>> NARRATOR: From the first student protests... To the millions who took to the streets against Beijing's control... >> All acts are one step closer to terrorism.
>> NARRATOR: Filmed over eight months, an inside look at the conflict.
>> In the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party, all fighting for democracy is over the red line.
>> NARRATOR: "Battle for Hong Kong," now on "Frontline."
>> MOMO (in Cantonese): (sniffles) (phone camera clicks) (sniffles) (sniffles) (people talking in background) >> NARRATOR: It's the fourth month of pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.
(people shouting) Protesters have surrounded the car of an off-duty police officer.
>> MAN (shouting): >> NARRATOR: The city is in turmoil.
>> MAN: >> OFFICER: >> MAN: (gun fires, people shouting) >> MAN: >> NARRATOR: The officer shoots and injures a 14-year-old protester.
(people shouting) How did one of the world's biggest financial centers descend into such chaos and violence?
And where will it end?
>> MAN: (glass shatters) (people shouting) >> MAN: >> NARRATOR: This film follows five young protesters through the most intense clashes.
Facing arrest for their actions, most are wearing masks and using aliases to protect their identities.
They say they're fighting for their freedom against the communist government of China.
(fires) (people shouting) China says they are "radicals," "thugs," and "separatists."
(guns firing, people shouting) >> MOMO: (crowd chanting) >> NARRATOR: Momo is a nurse in her late 20s.
When she was a child, Hong Kong was a British colony.
(chanting continues) (phone camera clicks) In 1997, it was returned to China and granted special status for 50 years-- allowing for far more freedoms than in mainland China.
But the city's government would be accountable to the communist regime-- and its leader approved by Beijing.
>> MOMO: (man shouting) (crowd chanting) >> NARRATOR: On June the 12th last year, Momo was one of tens of thousands who took to the streets.
Hong Kong's government had proposed a controversial extradition bill that would allow criminal suspects to be sent for trial in mainland China.
>> MOMO: (shouting) >> NARRATOR: Amid growing concerns about China's influence in Hong Kong, the extradition bill struck a nerve.
(crowd chanting) The majority of protesters were peaceful, but a few tried to take on the police.
Momo says she wasn't ready for what happened next.
>> MOMO: (shouting) >> NARRATOR: The police fired large amounts of tear gas into the crowds.
They were filmed beating protesters.
(shouting) >> MOMO: (sirens blaring) (sirens blaring) >> NARRATOR: The Hong Kong authorities said the police had adopted a restrained and tolerant attitude on June 12, and called the protesters "rioters."
For many Hongkongers, that day was a turning point.
One of them was Lomi, a researcher.
>> LOMI: (man speaking Cantonese) >> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: Lomi and her friends are in a safe house, preparing for the next protest.
>> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: In the weeks since June 12, the demonstrations have escalated.
The protesters now have more demands, including the right to directly elect Hong Kong's leader without China's approval.
>> NARRATOR: The majority have been peaceful, but some-- like Lomi-- are taking a different approach.
>> LOMI: >> (talking softly in background) (people shouting) >> LOMI: (tear gas guns firing) >> NARRATOR: The police start firing tear gas to try to clear the streets.
>> LOMI: (people shouting) >> LOMI: >> MAN: >> LOMI: >> MAN: >> NARRATOR: Lomi and her team help build barricades to stop police water cannon vehicles getting within range.
>> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: Then they realize the police are closing in.
>> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: Seconds later, police special forces charge the protesters.
They make more than a hundred arrests.
But Lomi and her team escape.
>> MAN: >> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: Lomi and her friends say they're running out of time.
Hong Kong's special status is due to end in 2047, when China will take back full control.
>> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: As the protests have intensified, China has warned that it could directly intervene.
>> WOMAN (in Mandarin): (crowd shouting, chanting) (chanting continues) >> VINCENT: (shouting) >> NARRATOR: Vincent is one of tens of thousands of high school students at the heart of the protests.
>> VINCENT: >> WOMAN: >> VINCENT: >> NARRATOR: He has firsthand experience of life in mainland China.
He grew up there before moving to Hong Kong in his teens.
>> VINCENT: (man shouting) (crowd chanting) >> NARRATOR: Vincent says he fears Hong Kong will become a surveillance state like China.
(man shouting) Some lampposts here are already equipped with sensors and cameras, and have become targets of the protesters.
(crowd cheering, post crashes) (cheering more loudly, applauding) >> (laughing) >> VINCENT: (siren blaring) >> NARRATOR: Hong Kong currently has a free press and internet-- unlike on the Chinese mainland, where both are heavily censored.
So, it was only when Vincent arrived in Hong Kong that he learned about China's deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
(guns firing rapidly on video) >> VINCENT: (crowd chanting) (Vincent shouting) >> NARRATOR: Since the protests began, millions of Hong Kong residents have participated, making them the largest on Chinese territory since Tiananmen Square.
(man shouting) On this night, Vincent has joined thousands of others in the center of the city.
One of their slogans is "Liberate Hong Kong: revolution of our time."
>> VINCENT: (crowd shouting) >> NARRATOR: A few hours later, the violence escalates.
(crowd shouting) The first live round is fired by the police.
(gun fires) A warning shot.
(shouting) >> VINCENT: (shouting continues) >> I thought a lot on my own future.
I had to be mentally prepared to be arrested or even to be sent to the prison.
>> NARRATOR: At 22, Agnes Chow is already a veteran of pro-democracy protests.
She's not worried about showing her face because she's already known to the authorities.
She was recently arrested.
>> When I woke up and I opened the door of my room, I suddenly saw five police officers standing outside of my room.
And I was so shocked.
>> NARRATOR: Now she's on bail and tonight must report to a police station.
Agnes says she was demonstrating peacefully, but was charged with taking part and inciting others to join an unauthorized assembly.
>> If I was sent to prison because of participating in the assembly or protest, of course as a political prisoner.
The violence and the suppression from Beijing and the Hong Kong government, and also Hong Kong police, is getting stronger and stronger.
(man speaking Cantonese) (crowd cheering and applauding) >> NARRATOR: Hong Kong has a history of pro-democracy demonstrations and protests against China, but never on this scale.
>> MAN: >> NARRATOR: And now, the police deem most demonstrations illegal, citing concerns about violence.
>> MAN: >> Hong Kong people should enjoy genuine democracy.
At least we would have a political system that could kind of force the government to respect and to listen to public opinion.
(in Cantonese): In the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party, all behavior, all social movement, fighting for a democracy is over the red line.
(in Cantonese): (crowd repeats, applauding) We want to choose our future by ourselves.
>> NARRATOR: Agnes is scheduled to go on trial soon.
She faces up to five years behind bars.
(sirens blaring) It's mid-September.
Momo has been protesting regularly since June.
>> (shouting) >> MOMO: (sirens blaring) >> NARRATOR: She says the violence used to suppress the protests has traumatized her.
It's also made her angry.
She now goes to the front lines providing medical support and extinguishing tear gas rounds.
>> MOMO: >> NARRATOR: Hong Kong is now bitterly divided over the best way forward-- and whether the protests are doing more harm than good.
The city is suffering the worst recession in a decade, and many blame the protests.
>> MOMO: >> NARRATOR: It's been almost four months of protests.
Lomi has been out confronting the police several times a week.
>> LOMI: (men shouting) (sirens blaring) >> NARRATOR: The police are stepping up the arrests.
The protesters face up to ten years in jail for rioting, so the stakes are high.
>> LOMI: >> WOMAN: >> NARRATOR: Lomi's team are in their safe house planning their next move.
>> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: One of the biggest celebrations in China's history is on the horizon, and the protesters are planning to do all they can to undermine it.
>> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: October 1 marks National Day, 70 years since the beginning of communist rule in China.
A huge parade in Beijing will showcase China's increasing military and economic power to the world.
>> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: The Hong Kong Police are on high alert.
(sirens blaring) >> We are on the verge of extreme danger.
Mass property destruction, furious street fights, indiscriminate attacks on innocent citizens.
There are apparent signs that hardcore violence will escalate in the near future.
All acts are one step closer to terrorism.
>> NARRATOR: Vincent, the high school student from mainland China, is also planning to protest on National Day.
For him and many other protesters, the Communist Party is the enemy.
>> VINCENT: >> It's a very symbolic day.
A lot of people are suffering under this regime, people in Tibet or Xinjiang or people practicing religion in China, people who voice out the truth.
That's why, for us, it's never a day for celebration.
(cannons firing) >> NARRATOR: The celebrations in Beijing are underway, marking China's emergence as a global power.
(marching band playing) (shouting in Mandarin) Presiding over the event is China's leader, Xi Jinping.
(marching band continues) (parade playing over phone) Back in Hong Kong, Momo is getting ready for action on the streets.
>> MOMO (in Cantonese): >> XI (in Mandarin, via phone): (live, over speakers): (fanfare playing) >> VINCENT (in Cantonese): (shooting tear gas canisters) >> WOMAN: >> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: Lomi's team has split up to stretch the police response across the city.
>> LOMI: (tear gas canister hisses) (guns firing and popping in distance) (people shouting) >> MAN: >> NARRATOR: As the day progresses, the protesters' anger against China ramps up.
>> MAN: >> NARRATOR: A group of them surround a Chinese tourist.
>> MAN: >> NARRATOR: There's growing suspicion of anyone from the mainland.
>> MAN: (people shouting) >> MAN: (people shouting) >> LOMI: >> MAN (in Mandarin): (protesters chanting) (tear gas gun firing) >> NARRATOR: By mid-afternoon on National Day, clashes between protesters and police have spread to 13 areas across Hong Kong.
(tear gas guns firing) >> LOMI (in Cantonese): >> NARRATOR: The police are closing in around Lomi's group.
(tear gas guns firing) (people shouting) >> LOMI: >> MAN: >> LOMI: (sirens blaring, tear gas guns firing) (tear gas guns firing) >> NARRATOR: In another part of the city, Momo's heading to the front line.
(man shouting) She's recorded a message for her parents.
>> MOMO: (sniffles) (sniffles) (sniffles) >> NARRATOR: Over the course of the protests on National Day, the Hong Kong Police say they are forced to shoot six live rounds to defend themselves.
(people shouting) One is fired by an officer whose colleague is being attacked by a group of protesters.
(gun fires) The bullet seriously injures a high school student.
(people shouting) >> XI (in Mandarin): (crowd applauding) >> NARRATOR: To cap off the day, there's a huge firework display in Beijing.
(crowd cheering) Hong Kong's official fireworks are canceled.
But the protesters organize their own.
(fireworks shrieking and exploding) (crowd gasps, cheers) >> VINCENT: (crowd cheering) (shouting and cheering) (firework explodes, crowd cheers) >> NARRATOR: After the violence on China's National Day, Hong Kong's authorities take new measures in an effort to stop the protests.
>> Protesters' violence has been escalating and has reached a very alarming level in the past few days, causing numerous injuries and leading Hong Kong to a chaotic and panicked situation.
The Chief Executive and Council decided at a special meeting this morning to invoke the power under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance.
The objective of this regulation is to end violence and restore order.
>> NARRATOR: Face masks are banned.
The government also goes on to make a concession, formally withdrawing the extradition bill that ignited the protests.
But it's too late.
Hard-liners ramp up their battles with the police and take control of a university campus.
>> LI: >> NARRATOR: Li is part of a core group occupying the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
>> LI: >> NARRATOR: Li is married and has a daughter.
He's been protesting since June.
>> LI: >> MAN: >> LI: >> MAN: >> NARRATOR: Li and his fellow hard-liners are devising new ways to keep the police at bay, fortifying their barricade of the university campus.
>> MAN: >> LI: >> MAN: >> LI: >> MAN: >> MAN 2: (man talking on radio) >> NARRATOR: Li and the hard-liners have heard there's a larger gathering elsewhere in Hong Kong.
They decide to abandon the Chinese University.
>> LI: (man shouting) >> NARRATOR: They have a bigger battle to fight-- across the city, at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
(sirens blaring) >> MAN: >> NARRATOR: Around 2,000 protesters have amassed at the campus.
(man shouting) Lomi is among the crowd.
And Li and his fellow hard-liners are also here.
>> MAN: >> NARRATOR: The police have them surrounded.
>> LI: >> MAN: >> LI: >> NARRATOR: It's the start of the most violent confrontation since the protests began.
(shouting) Up on the terrace, Li is in the firing line.
(protesters shouting) (sirens blaring) >> MAN: >> LI: >> MAN: >> LI: >> MAN: >> LI: (tear gas gun fires) (canister hissing) (protesters shouting) >> NARRATOR: The standoff at the university drags on through the night.
Inside, there's a growing sense of desperation.
>> MAN: >> NARRATOR: Lomi and her team start planning their escape.
>> LOMI: >> MAN: >> NARRATOR: They plan to use a rope to climb onto a nearby highway overpass.
>> MAN: >> LOMI: >> MAN: >> LOMI: (phone ringing) (siren blaring) >> NARRATOR: Lomi disappears into the chaos just as another group of protesters try to get out of the campus.
>> WOMAN: >> MAN: >> NARRATOR: The police continue to bombard the crowd with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons.
(protesters shouting) >> WOMAN: >> NARRATOR: Suddenly, the police move in.
(protesters shouting) (tear gas guns firing) >> OFFICER: >> NARRATOR: It's a major victory for the authorities.
After nearly half a year of pitched battles, much of the hard-line protest movement has been broken apart.
>> OFFICER: >> OFFICER (in Cantonese): >> NARRATOR: After the end of the Polytechnic siege, the police arrest more protesters.
>> MOMO: >> NARRATOR: Momo is still going to the protests.
She says she's increasingly worried about the countdown to China taking full control of Hong Kong.
>> MOMO: >> VINCENT: >> NARRATOR: Vincent is now on bail after being arrested for unauthorized assembly.
He used to regularly visit mainland China to see his father and family, but after his arrest, he says he's worried the authorities there will also punish him for being part of the protests.
>> VINCENT: >> LOMI: >> NARRATOR: Lomi has fled Hong Kong.
After escaping the campus siege eight weeks earlier, she's taking refuge in nearby Taiwan.
>> LOMI: (voice trembling) >> Go to pbs.org/frontline for the latest on the protests in Hong Kong and how the outbreak of the coronavirus is impacting the situation.
Visit the "Frontline" archive, where you can stream more than 200 "Frontline" documentaries.
Connect to the "Frontline" community on Facebook and Twitter, and watch anytime on the PBS Video App or pbs.org/frontline.
>> For more on this and other "Frontline" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline.
"Frontline's" "Battle for Hong Kong" is available on Amazon Prime Video.
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