Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong vows to continue protests despite arrest | World News

It’s hard to remember Joshua Wong is still only 22.

When most British students are wondering how they can afford to pay their rent or where they’re going to party this weekend, the very serious Mr Wong is anxiously wondering if he has another spell in jail coming up.

We met him on the street outside his apartment block in a middle-class working area of Hong Kong, hours after he had been arrested, appeared in court and addressed the assembled ranks of national and international media like a seasoned professional.

“How much time do you want?” he asks the Sky News team. “Is this live or recorded? Can we do it now? I have to stick to my curfew.” The terms of his bail are that he observes a curfew between 11pm and 7am. These are not normal times for Hong Kong or one of its rapidly emerging international voices.

Mr Wong started his political activism as a 13-year-old schoolboy when he objected to plans to build a rail link between Hong Kong and the mainland. By his late teens he had set up a pro-democracy organisation called Demosisto with Agnes Chow, a fellow student. He holds the position of secretary-general.

He and Ms Chow rose to prominence during the “Umbrella Movement” of 2014 when they led a student movement against proposed reforms to Hong Kong’s electoral system which would have allowed Beijing to choose candidates.

After a number of appeals he spent about two months in jail and was released in June just as the new protests against the extradition bill were gathering pace. It’s a protest movement which has deliberately avoided leaders and prides itself on being without high profile heads or voices.

But the day before a large rally was planned – on the 13th consecutive weekend of protest – he was among a group of activists rounded up and questioned by police. The rally was banned and after appeals to overturn it failed, the organisers were forced to abandon their plans, saying they feared mass arrests.

The manner of Mr Wong’s arrest is as concerning as its timing. It was around 7.30am in the morning when he was pushed into a private vehicle on the street and escorted to the Wan Chai police headquarters, according to his colleague Nathan Law.

He has been accused of allegedly inciting, organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly at Wan Chai police headquarters on 21 June.

Demosisto co-founder Ms Chow is accused of inciting and participating in an unauthorised gathering. On the evening of 21 June, protesters were seen throwing eggs at the Wan Chai police station and daubing it with graffiti to protest against police brutality during the anti-extradition bill demonstrations.

When we spoke to Mr Wong, the arrest didn’t seem to have dimmed his determination.

“The Hong Kong government refuse to have any kind of dialogue, refuse to listen to our words,” he told us. “They aren’t ruled by law, they’re just ruled by teargas and fear.”

He went on to say the violence, which has been building up for weeks, would only get worse with the latest arrests. Politicians have also been held for questioning. About a dozen of the most prominent activists have been arrested in the 24 hours before this weekend’s rally in an attempt by the authorities to control the burgeoning violence associated with the protests.

“I will still join the protests (on Saturday),” Mr Wong said. “People will still gather on Hong Kong island to show that we must not silence our voice under the crackdown of human rights.

“It’s impossible to stop our cause for free elections and our cause to stop police brutality. Hong Kong people will still keep on our fight.

“We know Beijing is backing Hong Kong police, but we will not be threatened. We shall not surrender.”