For ‘the braves’ there is no turning back in battle for Hong Kong

A Catholic schoolgirl who left a promising career to lob petrol bombs at police. College students whose raison d’etre is to keep the fight going. A protester who beat arrest to mount his fourth election campaign and win office.

As Honk Kongs anti-government protests have dragged on from summer into winter, these are the kind of people who have emerged as “the braves” – people prepared to use extreme tactics that set them apart from the vast majority of peaceful demonstrators.

“The braves”, whose number is hard to gauge and whose ranks have been replenished by younger and younger protesters give the government the most headaches. Police have branded them rioters determined to round them up in order to quell the unrest.