On TV, Hong Kong Openly Debates Democracy

After weeks of protests that have shaken Hong Kong’s 7.2 million people, residents thought they had seen it all. Then, on Oct 21, something even more extraordinary happened, on live television: a polite debate between earnest students wearing black “Freedom Now” T-shirts and top Hong Kong leaders over the future of democracy. Five student leaders, hair disheveled, took on the officials, who were old enough to be their parents, in the frank discourse. They spoke Cantonese, the prevailing local Chinese dialect, with simultaneous translations into English and sign language.