June 9 is the fifth anniversary of a massive protest that led to China’s draconian security law.

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HONG KONG — Five years ago, on June 9, 2019, I watched 1 million people march through the streets of Hong Kong.

Some put the crowd count higher. Police — as they do everywhere — put it lower. But it was a sea of humanity, stretching as far as I could see from my perch on one of the city’s ubiquitous elevated walkways. It was the largest protest in Hong Kong’s history, and by far the largest I’d ever seen anywhere.

It was also almost entirely peaceful, even festive, representing a cross section of Hong Kong society. I saw students and elders, well-known activists and ordinary people, and couples pushing children in strollers. It turned ugly only briefly, at midnight, when police fired pepper spray at a few hundred stragglers who refused to disperse.

The crowd had gathered that sweltering day with a singular demand — that Hong Kong’s handpicked leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, withdraw an ill-conceived extradition bill that would allow criminal suspects to be sent........

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