Bernard Chan, born in 1965, is a Hong Kong businessman.
No protester sets out expecting a friend to be arrested, injured or caught in a confrontation with the police. Yet when that happens, the reasons for returning to the streets can change.
People may return not only because of the cause that first brought them out, but because they believe a friend has been treated unjustly. That is how anger becomes personal, and how a protest can move towards a dangerous cycle of action and reaction.
This is the risk confronting France. The student protests began over teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating schools. But the central question is no longer simply why students took to the streets. It is whether further provocation, violence and forceful policing will allow others to define what their protests stand for.