The jailed Umbrella Movement hero:
Freed
as Hong Kong boils.
As Beijing bears down,
what's Hong Kong's endgame?
Welcome to China Uncensored,
I'm Chris Chappell.
I'm talking to a man who needs no introduction:
Joshua Wong, leader of the 2014 Umbrella Movement.
Josh, you've been in and out of prison
for standing up for the rights of Hong Kong.
You were just released from prison.
How was the food?
I left prison 26 hours ago.
It's hard for me to describe the food inside prison.
It's possible for me to recognize it as food,
I'm really curious.
And I head you were wearing the same pair of underwear for how long?
Same pair of clothes for every four days.
It's hard for me to understand the logic or the mechanism inside prison.
However, at least I left prison, and can join the fight now.
Do you think your release was politically timed?
I was locked up in prison on the 16th of May.
During that day, according to the announcement from
the correctional service department,
the head of the prison already let me know,
on the 17th of June, I will leave prison.
But nobody expected, on the 16th of June,
two million people joined the rally.
So that was very good timing!
It's really quite good timing, at all!
So were you able to get news inside prison?
While I was in prison I can still read news.
However, 24 hours with censorship and pressure is not easy to overcome.
But it was a surprise that even the staff in prison told me,
hey Joshua, I joined the fight
last Wednesday, 12th of June,
to fight Beijing's oppression.
It surprised me that even someone who gets salary from the government,
recognized as a civil servant,
but even the ones that were inside government,
were in that prison,
also joined our fight now.
Wow, so there's a lot of support for that.
It's really impressive.
So what was your reaction when you head that
2 million people took to the streets to protest the extradition bill?
When I was in prison, I watched TV news,
and recognized that 2 million people joined our fight, I get an idea.
Well, Carrie Lam, perhaps by also watching the TV news,
recognized that 2 million people joined the rally,
and really excited for it.
I believe it's hard for Carrie Lam to have a good sleep since two weeks ago.
Now these protests are much more decentralized
and leaderless than the 2014 Umbrella Movement.
Do you think that's an advantage?
Leaderless, decentralized, organic, is a kind of uniqueness of this movement,
that we are against the extradition law amendment.
I would say it encourages people to have more self-initiated action,
and it's also hard for Beijing to target any leader.
Previously if they needed to end the action they could just arrest the leader,
arrest the representative, but now, without any specific leader,
it's hard for them to figure out how to deal,
how to negotiate with those activists.
The only way out is to withdraw the evil law.
So are you concerned that some of the people in this protest
will face the same kind of retribution
that you and other leaders of the Umbrella Movement did?
What we asked for is to withdraw the extradition law amendment,
stop defining protests as riots,
not arrest any activists anymore in the future,
and Carrie Lam must step down to end her political career.
I hope none of the activists will face prosecution.
They are the ones who fight for the future of our hometown.
Now I know you said these protests are not the endgame.
What do you mean by that?
In the short run, we urge Beijing and Hong Kong government
respect the voice of the people,
to withdraw the evil proposal,
withdraw the evil leader, and the evil law.
But in the long run, we ask for free elections,
just like how we fought for freedom and democracy
five years ago during the Umbrella Movement.
That's why it's a long term battle.
And what role do you think you have to play in these protests?
I hope the international community continues to keep its spotlights in Hong Kong.
I hope that people around the world can,
through my participation,
to lead the world to realize that, even under the uprising China model,
we are not afraid of president Xi and Carrie Lam.
Well I know a lot of my viewers have been expressing their support for the protesters.
What can people outside of Hong Kong do to show their support?
People around the world should pressure their goverrnment
to keep their eyes on Hong Kong.
Especially Hong Kong is such a global city,
already become kind of a protest city.
The extradition law amendment is still not withdrawn yet.
And how those police of Hong Kong will just purchase
rubber bullets and pepper spray from Western countries
to attack on activists.
What I hope is government around the world will never
sell rubber bullets or pepper spray to Hong Kong police force
to physically attack on activists.
Well we don't know what's going to happen in the next couple of days,
so just in case,
I was wondering if you could give me any advice
over how to survive Hong Kong prison.
With support from people who can try our best to overcome
pressure and threats inside jail.
The fight for democracy is not easy.
But compared to the price paid by others,
just like activists against Beijing pressure
have been shot by rubber bullets and sent to the hospital last week,
and other that fight for freedom have been jailed for seven years.
As for ones who have just been jailed for a few weeks,
It just pales.
It's just a small piece of cake for me.
Well thank you for joining me today.
Thank you.