Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He served as secretary-general of the
pro-democracy
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...
party
Demosistō
Demosisto (stylised Demosistō) () was a pro-democracy political organisation established on 10 April 2016 as a political party. It was led by Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former leaders of Scholarism, along with Nathan Law, former secre ...
until it disbanded following the implementation of the
Hong Kong national security law
The Hong Kong national security law, officially the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a piece of national security legislation concerning Hong Kong. It ...
on 30 June 2020. Wong was previously convenor and founder of the Hong Kong student activist group
Scholarism
Scholarism was a Hong Kong pro-democracyWilfred Chan and Yuli Yang, CNNbr>Echoing Tiananmen, 17-year-old Hong Kong student prepares for democracy battle 28 September 2014 student activist group active in the fields of Hong Kong's education po ...
. Wong first rose to international prominence during the
2014 Hong Kong protests
A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014.
The protests began after ...
, and his pivotal role in the
Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement () was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police's use of pepper spray to dispe ...
resulted in his inclusion in TIME magazine's Most Influential Teens of 2014 and nomination for its 2014 Person of the Year; he was further called one of the "world's greatest leaders" by ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' magazine in 2015, and nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
in 2017.
In August 2017, Wong and two other democracy activists were convicted and jailed for their roles in the occupation of Civic Square at the incipient stage of the 2014 Occupy Central protests; in January 2018, Wong was convicted and jailed again for failing to comply with a court order for clearance of the Mong Kok protest site during the Hong Kong protests in 2014. He also played a major role in persuading US politicians to pass the
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (HKHRDA)Naomi Xu ElegantThe U.S. Senate Passed 2 Bills Supporting Hong Kong Protesters. But They Might Do More Harm Than Good, ''Fortune'' (November 20, 2019). (; ) is a United States federal ...
during the
2019–2020 Hong Kong protests
The Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, also known as the 2019 Hong Kong protests, or the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, were a series of demonstrations from 15 March 2019 in response to the introduction by the Hong Kong government ...
. Wong was disqualified by the Hong Kong government from running in forthcoming District Council elections. In June 2020, he announced he would be running for a Legislative Council seat in the upcoming election, and officially applied on 20 July 2020, before his nomination was invalidated on 30 July 2020 along with that of 11 other pro-democracy figures. In December 2020, Wong was convicted and jailed for the third time over an unauthorised protest outside police headquarters in June 2019.
Early life and education
Joshua Wong was born in Hong Kong on 13 October 1996, and was diagnosed with
dyslexia
Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...
in early childhood. The son of middle-class couple Grace and Roger Wong, Wong was raised as a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
Christian in the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
tradition. His social awareness stems from his father, a retired IT professional, who was a convener of a local anti-gay marriage initiative, and often took him as a child to visit the underprivileged.
Wong studied at the
United Christian College (Kowloon East)
United Christian College (Kowloon East) () is a private Christianity, Christian secondary school in Kwun Tong District, Hong Kong. Established in 2003, the school is located in New Clear Water Bay Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. English is used as th ...
, a private Christian secondary school in
Kowloon
Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...
, and developed organisational and speaking skills through involvement in church groups. Wong subsequently pursued undergraduate studies at the
Open University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) is a university in Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong. Established as the Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong by the Hong Kong government in 1989, HKMU now consists of five schools, namely the School of Arts and S ...
, having enrolled in a bachelor's degree in political studies and public administration. Due to his political activities, he took study leave from his studies, and has reportedly remained a student as of 2019.
Student activism (2010–2016)
Early activism
The 2010 anti-high speed rail protests were the first political protests in which Wong took part.
On 29 May 2011, Wong and schoolmate Ivan Lam Long-yin established
Scholarism
Scholarism was a Hong Kong pro-democracyWilfred Chan and Yuli Yang, CNNbr>Echoing Tiananmen, 17-year-old Hong Kong student prepares for democracy battle 28 September 2014 student activist group active in the fields of Hong Kong's education po ...
, a student activist group. The group began with simple means of protest, such as the distribution of leaflets against the newly announced
moral and national education
Moral and national education (MNE), initially known as Moral and civic education (MCE), was a school curriculum proposed by the Education Bureau of Hong Kong in 2012.
The subject was controversial for its stance on the Chinese Communist Part ...
(MNE) curriculum. In time, however, Wong's group grew in both size and influence, and in 2012 managed to organise a political rally attended by over 100,000 people. Wong received widespread attention as the group's convenor.
Role in 2014 Hong Kong protests
In June 2014, Scholarism drafted a plan to reform Hong Kong's electoral system to push for universal suffrage, under
one country, two systems
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...
. His group strongly advocated for the inclusion of civic nomination in the
2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election
The 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election was held on 26 March 2017 for the 5th term of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE), the highest office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Former Chief Secretary for Administration ...
2014 Hong Kong electoral reform
Fourteen or 14 may refer to:
* 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15
* one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014
Music
* 14th (band), a British electronic music duo
* ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013
*''14'', an unrel ...
. Unlike fellow protesters, only in response to a court order obtained by writ of ''
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'' was Wong released by police, after 46 hours in custody.
During the protests, Wong stated: "Among all the people in Hong Kong, there is only one person who can decide whether the current movement will last and he is hief Executive of the regionLeung. If Leung can accept our demands ... (the) movement will naturally come to an end." On 25 September 2014 the state-owned
Wen Wei Po
''Wen Wei Po'' is a pro-Beijing State media, state-owned newspapers in Hong Kong, newspaper based in Hong Kong. The newspaper was established in Hong Kong on 9 September 1948, after Wenhui Bao, its Shanghai edition was launched in 1938.
Its h ...
published an article which claimed that "US forces" had worked to cultivate Wong as a "political superstar". Wong in turn denied every detail in the report through a statement that he subsequently posted online. Wong also said that he was mentioned by name in mainland China's Blue Paper on National Security, which identified internal threats to the stability of Communist Party rule; quoting a line in V for Vendetta, he in turn said that "People should not be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of their people."
Wong was charged on 27 November 2014 with obstructing a bailiff clearing one of Hong Kong's three protest areas. His lawyer described the charge as politically motivated. He was banned from a large part of
Mong Kok
Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK) is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok.
Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterised ...
, one of the protester-occupied sites, as one of the bail conditions. Wong claimed that police beat him and tried to injure his groin as he was arrested, and taunted and swore at him while he was in custody.
After Wong's appearance at Kowloon City Magistrates' Court on 27 November 2014, he was pelted with eggs by two assailants. They were arrested and each fined $3,000 in August 2015, sentences which, on application for review by the prosecution, were subsequently enhanced to two weeks' imprisonment.
On 2 December 2014, Wong and two other students began an indefinite hunger strike to demand renewed talks with the Hong Kong government. He decided to end the hunger strike after four days on medical advice.
Aftermath of the Occupy protests
Wong was arrested and held for three hours on Friday, 16 January 2015, for his alleged involvement in offences of calling for, inciting and participating in an unauthorised assembly.
The same month, an article appeared in the Pro-Beijing newspaper ''
Wen Wei Po
''Wen Wei Po'' is a pro-Beijing State media, state-owned newspapers in Hong Kong, newspaper based in Hong Kong. The newspaper was established in Hong Kong on 9 September 1948, after Wenhui Bao, its Shanghai edition was launched in 1938.
Its h ...
'' alleging that Wong had met with the US consul-general in Hong Kong Stephen M. Young during the latter's visit in 2011. It suggested that Wong had links with the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
of the United States, which had supposedly offered him military training by the US Army. Wong responded that the claims were pure fiction and "more like jokes."
Wong was denied entry into Malaysia at
Penang International Airport
Penang International Airport is an airport in northern Malaysia. The airport is located near Bayan Lepas at the southeastern tip of Penang Island, south of the city centre.
On 28 June 2015, two days before a protest in favour of democracy, Wong and his girlfriend were attacked by an unknown man after watching a film in Mong Kok. The assault sent the two to hospital. Wong sustained injuries to his nose and eyes. No one was arrested.
On 19 August 2015, Wong was formally charged by the Hong Kong Department of Justice with inciting other people to join an unlawful assembly and also joining an unlawful assembly, alongside
Alex Chow
Alex Chow Yong-kang (; born 18 August 1990) is a social activist from Hong Kong and current doctoral candidate in geography at the University of California, Berkeley.Hong Kong Federation of Students
The Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS, or 學聯) is a student organisation founded in May 1958 by the student unions of four higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The inaugural committee had seven members representing the four sc ...
.
While travelling to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
for a political seminar, "pro-China" protesters attempted to assault Wong at the arrival hall of Taoyuan's
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is an international airport serving Taipei and northern Taiwan. Located about west of Taipei in Dayuan District, Taoyuan, the airport is Taiwan's largest. It was also the busiest airport in Taiwan before t ...
, necessitating police protection. It was later found that local gangsters were involved.
Detention in Thailand
Wong was detained on arrival in Thailand on 5 October 2016. He had been invited to speak about his
Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement () was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police's use of pepper spray to dispe ...
experience at an event marking the 40th anniversary of the
Thammasat University massacre
The 6 October 1976 massacre, or the 6 October event ( th, เหตุการณ์ 6 ตุลา ) as it is known in Thailand, was a violent crackdown by Thai police and lynching by right-wing paramilitaries and bystanders against leftist p ...
, hosted by
Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...
.
A Thai student activist who invited Wong, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, said that Thai authorities had received a request from the Chinese government earlier regarding Wong's visit. His own request to see Wong was denied.
After nearly 12 hours' detention, Wong was deported to Hong Kong. Wong claimed that, upon detention, the authorities would say no more than that he had been blacklisted but, just prior to deportation, they had informed him that his deportation was pursuant to Sections 19, 22 and 54 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522.
Hong Kong Legislator
Claudia Mo
Claudia Mo (born Mo Man-ching on 18 January 1957), also known as Claudia Bowring, is a Hong Kong journalist and politician, a member of the pan-democracy camp. She represented the Kowloon West geographical constituency, until November 2020 wh ...
called the incident "despicable" and stated: "If this becomes a precedent it means it could happen to you or me at any time if somehow Beijing thinks you are a dangerous, unwelcome person". Jason Y. Ng, a Hong Kong journalist and author, stated that Wong's detention showed "how ready Beijing is to flex its diplomatic muscles and ow itexpects neighbouring governments to play ball".
Wong eventually spoke with a Thai audience from Hong Kong via Skype.
Political career (2016–present)
Founding of Demosistō
In April 2016, Wong founded a new political party,
Demosistō
Demosisto (stylised Demosistō) () was a pro-democracy political organisation established on 10 April 2016 as a political party. It was led by Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former leaders of Scholarism, along with Nathan Law, former secre ...
, with other Scholarism leaders including
Agnes Chow
Agnes Chow Ting ( zh, t=周庭, born 3 December 1996) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistō and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Is ...
, Oscar Lai, and Umbrella activists, the original student activist group Scholarism having been disbanded. The party advocated for a referendum to be held to determine Hong Kong's sovereignty after 2047, the scheduled expiration of the
one country, two systems
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...
principle enshrined in the
Sino-British Joint Declaration
The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...
and the
Hong Kong Basic Law
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Comprising nine chapters, 160 ...
. As the founding secretary-general of the party, Wong also planned to contest the 2016 Legislative Council election. Wong was still only 19 and being below the statutory minimum age of 21 for candidacy, he filed an application (ultimately unsuccessful) for
judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
of the election law, in October 2015. After his decision to found his own political party, Wong became a focus of criticism, especially on social networks.
2018 Nobel Peace Prize nomination
On 1 February 2018, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, led by
Congressional-Executive Commission on China
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) is an independent agency of the U.S. government which monitors human rights and rule of law developments in the People's Republic of China. It was created in October 2001 under Title III of ...
(CECC) Chair US Senator
Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...
and vice-ranking member US Representative Chris Smith, announced that they had nominated Wong,
Nathan Law
Nathan Law Kwun-chung ( zh, link=no, t=羅冠聰; born 13 July 1993) is an activist and politician from Hong Kong. As a former student leader, he has been chairman of the Representative Council of the Lingnan University Students' Union (LUS ...
,
Alex Chow
Alex Chow Yong-kang (; born 18 August 1990) is a social activist from Hong Kong and current doctoral candidate in geography at the University of California, Berkeley.Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement () was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police's use of pepper spray to dispe ...
for the 2018
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
, for "their peaceful efforts to bring political reform and protect the autonomy and freedoms guaranteed Hong Kong in the Sino-British Joint Declaration".
Role in 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests
Joshua Wong's release coincided with the ongoing protests against extradition bill. Upon his release, Wong criticised the oppression of protesters by the
Hong Kong police
The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...
, and the extradition draft law as pro-Beijing and called for the Chief Executive of Hong Kong
Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...
to resign.
Wong did not take part with the protesters who forcibly broke into the Hong Kong's parliamentary Legislative Council building on 1 July, but he explained the need behind the move. According to him, the reason behind people entering the Legislative Council is that the council is "never democratically elected by people".
Wong was then arrested again on 29 August 2019 the day before a planned demonstration, which was not given city approval.
On 9 September, Wong met with the German Foreign Minister
Heiko Maas
Heiko Josef Maas (; born 19 September 1966) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs (2018–2021) and as the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protectio ...
. The
Chinese Foreign Ministry
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China () is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of the Chinese government, responsible for the foreign relations of the People's Republic of China. It is led ...
called this move "disrespectful of China's sovereignty and an interference in China’s internal affairs".
On 17 September, Wong and other student activists participated in a
Congressional-Executive Commission on China
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) is an independent agency of the U.S. government which monitors human rights and rule of law developments in the People's Republic of China. It was created in October 2001 under Title III of ...
(CECC) commission in the
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
. He said that the Chinese government should not grab all the economic benefit from Hong Kong, while attacking the freedom of Hong Kong. He also urged the U.S. Congress to pass the "
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (HKHRDA)Naomi Xu ElegantThe U.S. Senate Passed 2 Bills Supporting Hong Kong Protesters. But They Might Do More Harm Than Good, ''Fortune'' (November 20, 2019). (; ) is a United States federal ...
". Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Geng Shuang
Geng Shuang (; born April 1973) is a Chinese politician serving as China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He formerly served as the deputy director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of the People's Republic o ...
responded that the U.S. should not interfere in China's affairs.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
, met with Wong on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on 18 September. Chinese media sharply criticised Pelosi for this meeting, accusing her of "backing and encouraging radical activists."
2019 District Councillor election controversy
On 29 October 2019, Joshua Wong was barred from running in forthcoming district council elections in the South Horizons West constituency by returning officer Laura Liang Aron, who temporarily took over for Dorothy Ma Chau Pui-fun (South Horizon West's returning officer) after the latter took sick leave. Many (including Joshua Wong himself) have accused the Chinese Central Government and the Hong Kong Government of pressuring Returning Officers into disqualifying Joshua Wong.
National Security Law and the disbandment of Demosistō
On 30 June 2020, Wong, together with
Agnes Chow
Agnes Chow Ting ( zh, t=周庭, born 3 December 1996) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistō and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Is ...
and
Nathan Law
Nathan Law Kwun-chung ( zh, link=no, t=羅冠聰; born 13 July 1993) is an activist and politician from Hong Kong. As a former student leader, he has been chairman of the Representative Council of the Lingnan University Students' Union (LUS ...
, announced respectively on Demosistō's Facebook page that they had quit the group in light of the risk of prosecution under the national security law enacted by
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Hours later, the Demosistō organisation also announced on its blog that it was ceasing all activity, signing off with the message "We will meet again".
2020 legislative election
Having risen to political prominence as a teenager, the 2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council Election, due on 6 September, was the first at which Wong was eligible to stand. He announced his candidacy on 20 July, following his poll-topping endorsement by 30,000 voters in the democratic camp's unofficial primaries.
However, just 10 days later, and five weeks ahead of the (later postponed) election, the government stated that Wong was among a dozen pro-democracy candidates whose nominations were 'invalid', under the same opaque process that had seen him struck from candidacy in the previous year's District Council election, in which, nominally, civil servants –
returning officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.
Australia
In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral c ...
s – assess whether, for instance, a candidate had objected to the enactment of the national security law, or was sincere in statements made disavowing separatism.
Others
In June 2020 during the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
, Wong voiced his support for the
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
movement and opposition to police brutality in the United States. In the same month, he also called American basketball player
Lebron James
LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...
"hypocritical" for only focusing on issues in the U.S. and staying silent regarding issues in China.
Imprisonments
Imprisonment in 2017
Wong, along with two other prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy student leaders
Nathan Law
Nathan Law Kwun-chung ( zh, link=no, t=羅冠聰; born 13 July 1993) is an activist and politician from Hong Kong. As a former student leader, he has been chairman of the Representative Council of the Lingnan University Students' Union (LUS ...
and
Alex Chow
Alex Chow Yong-kang (; born 18 August 1990) is a social activist from Hong Kong and current doctoral candidate in geography at the University of California, Berkeley.Civic Square, at the Central Government Complex in the Tamar site, during a protest that triggered the 79-day Occupy sit-ins of 2014. The sentences halted their political careers, as they would be barred from running for public office for five years.
On the third anniversary of the 2014 protests, 28 September 2017, Wong started the first of a series of columns for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', written from the Pik Uk Correctional Institution, where he said that despite a dull and dry life there, he remained proud of his commitment to the
movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
.
On 13 October 2017, Wong was convicted with 19 others of contempt of court for obstructing execution of the court's order for clearance of part of the Occupy Central protest zone in Mong Kok in October 2014. The order had been obtained by a public minibus association.
On 14 November 2017, Wong, together with
Ivan Lam
Ivan Lam Long-yin (, born 18 July 1994) is a student who together with Joshua Wong established the Hong Kong student activist group, Scholarism, in May 2011. In 2018, he replaced Nathan Law as the chairperson of Demosisto. In December 2020, Lam ...
, commenced an application for judicial review in the High Court challenging the constitutionality of the provision in the Legislative Council Ordinance preventing persons sentenced to terms of imprisonment exceeding three months from standing for office for five years from the date of conviction.
On 18 January 2018, Wong was sentenced by Mr Justice Andrew H C Chan of the High Court to three months' imprisonment in respect of his October 2017 conviction for contempt of court. Nineteen other protesters convicted in respect of the same incident all received prison terms, though the terms were suspended for all but Wong and fellow protester Raphael Wong. As part of his reasoning, Chan expressed the view that, by November 2014, the protests had become pointless and their only effect was to impact the lives of "ordinary citizens" of the region.
Imprisonment in 2019
Wong was sentenced to two months of prison on 16 May 2019, for his involvement in events on 26 November 2014 in
Mong Kok
Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK) is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok.
Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterised ...
, an area in Hong Kong, where demonstrators opposed the police during the Umbrella revolution.
Joshua Wong was released on 17 June 2019, after just around a month time in jail because he had already served some time associated to this case back in 2018, thus adding up to a total of two months' term.
Imprisonment beginning in 2020
On 24 September 2020, Wong was arrested when he reported to a police station regarding another case against him. He was charged with "unlawful assembly", which was related to his participation in the 2019 protest against a government ban on face masks, where he was said to have violated the
anti-mask law
Anti-mask or anti-masking laws are legislative or penal initiatives prohibiting the concealment of one's face in public. Anti-mask laws vary widely between jurisdictions in their intent, scope, and penalties.
North America
United States
There a ...
of Hong Kong. On 30 September, he was temporarily released by the court along with activist Koo Sze-yiu (). The Principal Magistrate granted the two bail of
HK$
The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...
1,000 each, and imposed a travel ban on Wong at the prosecutors’ request.
On 23 November 2020, Wong appeared with Ivan Lam Long-yin and
Agnes Chow Ting
Agnes Chow Ting ( zh, t=周庭, born 3 December 1996) is a Hong Kong politician and activism, social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistō and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hon ...
in the West Kowloon District Court, where they had been expected to stand trial over their roles in the anti extradition bill protest on 21 June 2019. He was charged with organising an unauthorised assembly and of inciting others to take part in the event. The three pleaded guilty, and were put in custody until sentencing at a court hearing scheduled for 2 December 2020. Before appearing in court, Wong had said the trio were prepared to face immediate jail terms, and hoped their stance would draw global attention to a criminal justice system he claimed was being “manipulated by Beijing”. Wong, together with Ivan Lam, was remanded to Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre.
On 2 December 2020, Wong was found guilty of organising and inciting unlawful assembly, but not guilty of taking part in it. He was sentenced to 1 year and 1 month in prison. West Kowloon Magistrate Wong Sze-lai, stated: "The defendants called on protesters to besiege the headquarters and chanted slogans that undermine the police force".
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
condemned the sentencing, saying that the Chinese authorities "send a warning to anyone who dares to openly criticise the government that they could be next". He is currently serving his prison term at Shek Pik Prison.
It was reported in January 2021 that Wong's family had moved to Australia.
On 29 January 2021, Wong pleaded guilty to two additional charges related to his involvement in a rally on
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...
on 5 October 2019: taking part in an unauthorised assembly and wearing a facial covering during an unauthorised assembly.
On 13 April 2021, Wong was sentenced to four months in jail for unauthorised assembly and violating an anti-mask law.
On 6 May 2021, the Hong Kong District Court sentenced Wong to ten more months in prison for participating in an unauthorised assembly to mark the 2020 anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. The judge who sentenced him said that " e sentence should deter people from offending and re-offending in the future."
In August 2022, Benny Tai and Joshua Wong along with 24 other Pan-democrat activists were plead guilty to subversion. The legal decision was made without a jury and the judge was a Pro-Beijing National Security judge hand picked by the Justice Secretary.
International responses to the 2020 imprisonment
= United States
=
US House of Representative Speaker
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
issued a statement saying "China’s brutal sentencing of these young champions of democracy in Hong Kong is appalling." Pelosi further called on the world to denounce "this unjust sentencing and China’s widespread assault on Hong Kongers.” US Senator
Marsha Blackburn
Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States Senate, United States senator from Tennessee, a seat she has held since 2019. She is a member of the Repu ...
also called the sentence destroying "any semblance of autonomy in Hong Kong." In addition, US State Secretary Michael Pompeo decried the prison term in an official statement issued by the State department.
= United Kingdom
=
UK Foreign Minister
Dominic Raab
Dominic Rennie Raab (; born 25 February 1974) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice, and Lord Chancellor since October 2022, having previously served from 2021 to ...
issued a statement urging "Hong Kong and Beijing authorities to bring an end to their campaign to stifle opposition" in response to the prison sentences of the three pro-democracy activists.
= Japan
=
Japan's government spokesperson Katsunobu Kato in a regular news conference expressed Japan's "increasingly grave concerns about the recent Hong Kong situation such as sentences against three including Agnes Chow".
= Taiwan
=
The
Overseas Community Affairs Council
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC; ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Khièu-vu Vî-yèn-fi'') is a cabinet-level council of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The council was founded in 1926 in Canton (Guangzhou) in Kwangtung (Gu ...
(OCAC) issued a statement referencing to the
Mainland Affairs Council
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in Taiwan.
The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations po ...
(MAC) that "the decision to imprison Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam represents a failure by the Hong Kong government to protect the people's political rights and freedom of speech".
= Germany
=
Maria Adebahr, a Germany's foreign ministry spokesperson, stated that the prison terms are “another building block in a series of worrisome developments that we have seen in connection with human and civil rights in Hong Kong during the last year.”
Imprisonment under National Security Law
On 6 January 2021, Wong was among 53 members of the pro-democratic camp who were arrested under the national security law, specifically its provision regarding alleged subversion. The group stood accused of the organisation of and participation in the primaries of July 2020. He was arrested from prison, and his home was reportedly searched. On 28 February 2021, he was formally charged, along with 46 others for subversion.
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
World Policy Journal
''World Policy Journal'' was the flagship publication of the World Policy Institute, published by Duke University Press. Focusing on international relations, the publication provided left-wing, non-United States-centric perspectives to world issue ...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) is a free, non-profit news website based in Hong Kong. It was co-founded in 2015 by Tom Grundy, who believed that the territory's press freedom was in decline, to provide an alternative to the dominant English-languag ...
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
Guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...
, Foreword by
Chris Patten
Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...
.
Awards
* ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' – Young Person of the year, 2014
* AFP – 10 Most influential people, 2014
* YAHOO Top Ten Search Ranking – No.1 (Hong Kong), 2014
* ''
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' – Person of the Year 2014 (Reader's Poll – 3rd place), 2014
* ''
Foreign Policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'' – 100 Leading Global Thinkers, 2014
* ''
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' – The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014
* ''
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' Cover (Asia Edition), 2014
*'' Lessons in Dissent'', a documentary film featuring Wong and fellow activist Ma Jai, 2014
* ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' – World's 50 Greatest Leaders (10th place), 2015
* '' Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower'', a documentary film about Joshua Wong, 2017
*
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
2018 nomination, with Nathan Law, Alex Chow and the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, by the United States'
Congressional-Executive Commission on China
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) is an independent agency of the U.S. government which monitors human rights and rule of law developments in the People's Republic of China. It was created in October 2001 under Title III of ...
Occupy Central with Love and Peace
Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) was a single-purpose Hong Kong civil disobedience campaign initiated by Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, Benny Tai and Chan Kin-man on 27 March 2013. The campaign was launched on 24 September 2014, partially le ...