Joshua Wong believes that Beijing is putting his “life at risk,” but he’s not going to stop protesting anytime soon.
On Sunday evening, the Washington Examiner got the chance to speak to Wong, who is perhaps the most prominent voice among pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
In recent weeks, China implemented a new law for the territory that criminalizes subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. Because the law is written so broadly, authorities have been able to use it to crack down on protesters, one of those being Wong.
The 23-year-old recently decided to run for a seat on the Hong Kong Legislative Council. On Thursday, the city’s electoral authorities announced that he was disqualified from running for his failure to embrace and support the new law. Eleven of his fellow activists were barred from doing so as well. On Friday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that the city would delay the election for one year, citing concerns about the coronavirus.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany condemned these actions in a Friday press conference, saying this behavior “undermines the democratic processes and freedoms that have underpinned Hong Kong’s prosperity.”
On Sunday, Wong suspected that Beijing would try to make such a move. “They even hope to try their best to cancel the whole election,” he said.
In an interview with the BBC published July 22, Wong told the network that he thought he was being followed. By whom, he said he did not know.
When the Washington Examiner followed up with him on this question, he said that he believed such activity was still going on, stating, “How the authorities put my life at risk is crystal clear.”
At the end of June, Wong stepped down from the pro-democracy student group Demosisto. Still, he has persisted with his public-facing activism. Wong explained, “I didn’t want to put the lives of my friends and colleagues and teammates at risk, but I still need to continue to fight for freedom.”
Wong closed the interview by addressing what Hong Kong’s fate indicated for the people of Taiwan. “Today, Hong Kong. The next is Taiwan. And later on is the rest of the world.”
