Pro-democracy protests are common in Hong Kong, but they've never been met with the kind of police response that came down on demonstrators in recent days. Vox's Max Fisher explains why the people of Hong Kong have taken to the streets and what's at stake in the protests. For more news on Hong Kong: http://www.vox.com/china --- Subscribe to our channel! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=voxdotcom Vox.com is news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com to get up to speed on everything from Kurdistan to the Kim Kardashian app. Check out our full video catalog: youtube.com/voxdotcom/videos Follow Vox on Twitter: https://twitter.com/voxdotcom Or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vox