City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong

Please join the USC U.S.-China Institute for a discussion with Hong Kong based author and photographer Antony Dapiran for a look at his new book on the city's protests and what they mean for the future of Hong Kong and China.

Click here to watch the presentation.

About the Book

A long-term resident and expert observer of dissent in Hong Kong takes readers to the frontlines of Hong Kong’s revolution.

Through the long, hot summer of 2019, Hong Kong burned. Anti-government protests, sparked by a government proposal to introduce a controversial extradition law, grew into a pro-democracy movement that engulfed the city for months. Protesters fought street battles with police, and the unrest brought the People’s Liberation Army to the doorstep of Hong Kong. Driven primarily by youth protesters with their ‘Be water!’ philosophy, borrowed from hometown hero Bruce Lee, this leaderless, technology-driven protest movement defied a global superpower and changed Hong Kong, perhaps forever.

In City on Fire, Antony Dapiran provides the first detailed analysis of the protests, and reveals the protesters’ unique tactics. He explains how the movement fits into the city’s long history of dissent, examines the cultural aspects of the movement, and looks at what the protests will mean for the future of Hong Kong, China, and China’s place in the world.

City on Fire will be seen as the definitive account of an historic upheaval.

About the Author

Antony Dapiran is a Hong Kong-based writer, photographer and lawyer. He is the author of City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong (Scribe, 2020). Antony has written and presented extensively on Hong Kong and Chinese politics, culture and business, with his writing appearing in The Atlantic, New Statesman, Foreign Policy, and The Guardian, among many others. A fluent Mandarin speaker, he has resided between Hong Kong and Beijing for over twenty years.