This 19-year-old started a massive protest movement in Hong Kong - and now the government is putting him on trial
Joshua Wong was 17 years old when he decided to take on the Chinese government in 2014. Before he knew it, the Hong Kong teenager was the face of a massive pro-democracy protest, known as the Umbrella Movement, which called for elections free from the influence of China's central government.
He finds himself on trial this week, facing a possible five-year prison sentence. The charges stem from the opening days of the Umbrella Movement. Wong is accused of "inciting unauthorized assembly" for his role in trying to take back Civic Square, a symbol of peaceful protest in Hong Kong.
The movement ended in December 2014 with no clear results, but Wong's fight for democracy continues, and to many he's a symbol of hope.
Business Insider recently spoke with Wong about what it's like to take on the Chinese government, the future of Hong Kong, and whether he's prepared to go jail. (This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)
Jonathan Garber: As you face trial, what's going through your mind? Are you scared?
Joshua Wong: I'm not scared, because I know that I need to face the trial. What I mean is, I already expect I will need to pay the price for organizing the campaign to regain Civic Square.
Garber: Right now you're barred from entering mainland China. How do you feel about that? Is there anything you'd like to say to Beijing?
Wong: Beijing wants the new generation, and Hong Kong, to embrace the Communist Party of China, and love the country, and claim ourselves as Chinese. But if they reject us from entering China, how can we love China? That's the problem. If they continue to refuse and reject our request to enter mainland China, it will only increase the disagreement the new generation has toward the central government of China.
Garber: As a 17-year-old with much to lose, what compelled you to start the movement?
Wong: I organized an anti-national-education movement in 2011 and 2012, and I organized a political-reform movement from 2013 to 2014. With this strategy, what we hope for is to persist on our principles and to fight for what we want, to get one person one vote. To get a chance to organize a direct election and a legislative council and the election chief executive election.
Wong: I'm not able to run, because the [minimum] age to run in an election in Hong Kong is 21. I think it's really unusual for a 19-year-old kid to form, or to become the founder of, a political party. It's quite an unusual or special case. What we hope is, to show our desire and our demand of self-determination. We want Hongkongers to decide the future of Hong Kong.
Garber: Is there a name for your party yet?
Wong: We will announce it in April.
Garber: Since the Umbrella Movement, do you think anything has changed?
Wong: We couldn't concretely change the political structure, but we successfully changed the current momentum, and people's concern about politics. So I think it's a movement that we say created results, even though we couldn't change the political structure.
Garber: What's it like for you to walk down the streets of Hong Kong?
Garber: What motivates you so much that you put your life and future at risk?
Wong: If I don't commit to fighting for the future, 20 years later, 30 years later, after the end of the expiration date of the joint declaration, Hong Kong will be more at risk and in greater danger. What we hope to do now is to try to reduce the rate of Hong Kong moving backward on human rights.
Wong: Sometimes. It's really exhausting, and it's not an easy thing for me. I think that compared to other politicians who have been put in jail in the past, compared to the human-rights activists in history who have had to face political prosecution, the activists in Hong Kong nowadays are already quite lucky compared to that.
That's why, if we hope to fight for the future of the place where we were born, where we live, where we love, now is the time for Hongkongers to stand up and fight for the future.
Garber: During the Lunar New Year, the Fishball Revolution occurred. What do you make of it? Do you feel responsible?
Wong: Hong Kong's government needs to bear most of the responsibility for the Fishball Revolution. The government has known the demands of the civil society for a few years already.
During the Umbrella Movement, the police force wasn't in control, and the police ignored the law and tried to use extreme force to hurt people. The dissatisfaction of the public toward the police has increased in recent years.
Wong: My friends and my parents are quite supportive. Of course it's not an easy thing for them, because my parents had to change our number, and my home address was spread on the internet during the Umbrella Movement. My mom had to change her mobile number because there were too many calls that were interfering with her daily life. They still show their support and let me do what I want.
Garber: What do you think about the five Hong Kong booksellers who disappeared for two months and then reappeared on the mainland?
Wong: It has already implied the end of one country, two systems. In the past, we would think that no matter what we do, and no matter how you show your disagreement to the Communist Party of China ... we are still in a Hong Kong that has one country and two systems, traditional independence and rule of law.
We will not face the serious penalty of disappearing in Hong Kong. However, after the Causeway bookseller incident happened, it has changed all of our sense of the past.
It has already implied the end of one country, two systems because Hong Kong has already been "mainland-erized" by the control and interference of the Communist Party.
Garber: What will the relationship between China and Hong Kong be like in 10 years?
Wong: The Chinese government will just try to increase the interference toward Hong Kong. It's time for Hongkongers to take a chance to fight for self-determination.
Garber: Is there anything you'd like to say to Beijing before you go on trial?