Ben Leung is a Beijing-based journalist who was born in Hong Kong and educated in London. He has previously covered the uprisings in Egypt and Libya as well as general elections in Turkey and the United States for the BBC, RTHK, Chinese radio and VICE.

Video of plainclothes cops kicking the hell out of a protester has reignited passions on the street. But is this the rule, or the exception?

Pro-democracy protesters continue their battle, but Beijing is counting on fears of disorder—and the demands of commerce—to turn the public against them.

Some of the most passionate protesters against Beijing’s edicts are vulnerable descendants of South Asian immigrants who see themselves first and foremost as Hongkongers.