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What Joshua Wong's guilty plea means for Hong Kong · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has pleaded guilty to
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  Speaker 1: collusion with foreign entities, including encouraging the governments of the U.S.,
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  Speaker 1: Germany and U.K. to impose sanctions on Beijing. The 29-year-old
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  Speaker 1: reportedly waved at supporters as he entered the dock on Wednesday.
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  Speaker 1: He could have a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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  Speaker 1: He was charged under Beijing's national security law, which was
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  Speaker 1: introduced in 2020. Critics say that the law stifles the
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  Speaker 1: democratic process that was agreed under one country, two systems
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  Speaker 1: deal when Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997. China, however,
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  Speaker 1: maintains that it is needed to maintain order following a
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  Speaker 1: slew of protests. Let's take a look now at Joshua
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  Speaker 1: Wong's fight against Beijing over the last 12 years.
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  Speaker 2: A 17-year-old Joshua Wong on the streets of Hong Kong
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  Speaker 2: during the 2014 pro-democracy protests. He quickly became the global
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  Speaker 2: face of the Umbrella movement, after activists used them to
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  Speaker 2: shield themselves from tear gas and pepper spray. They were
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  Speaker 2: fighting Beijing's decision to pre-screen election candidates. The protesters were
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  Speaker 2: eventually cleared without the government granting any concessions. Wang has
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  Speaker 2: been arrested a total of nine times and has spent
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  Speaker 2: multiple short stints in prison, some of which were overturned
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  Speaker 2: on appeal. But it was China's so-called national security law,
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  Speaker 2: introduced in 2020, that would upend the status quo for
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  Speaker 2: activists in Hong Kong.
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  Speaker 3: Now is the most urgent situation in Hong Kong. I
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  Speaker 3: hope this is not the last video before I'm arrested
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  Speaker 3: in the upcoming future. Perhaps the time for me to
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  Speaker 3: continue to fight for freedom in Hong Kong is already
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  Speaker 3: coming down. But no matter what happens, as a Hong Konger,
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  Speaker 3: I love Hong Kong a lot and I will continue
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  Speaker 3: my commitment, committed to the democracy movement until the day
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  Speaker 3: we see the brighter future in our homeland. Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Wong was imprisoned shortly after and has been in jail
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  Speaker 2: ever since. He was expected to be released in January.
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  Speaker 2: He is now the only activist in Hong Kong to
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  Speaker 2: be prosecuted twice under the sweeping law. And though Wednesday's
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  Speaker 2: guilty plea could result in a reduced sentence, Wang could
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  Speaker 2: be facing a life term.
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  Speaker 1: And let's bring in now Chengqing Kuang. She is a
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  Speaker 1: pro-democracy activist and senior analyst at the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China,
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  Speaker 1: a group of lawmakers transcending borders and party politics to
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  Speaker 1: reform policy on China. Thank you so much for your
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  Speaker 1: time today. What's your reaction to Joshua Wang pleading guilty
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  Speaker 1: to colluding with foreign forces?
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  Speaker 4: As a friend, I feel very sorry for him.
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  Speaker 5: And I feel very frustrated that he is subject to
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  Speaker 5: yet another persecution coming from the Hong Kong authorities, who
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  Speaker 5: is already serving his four years and eight months sentence
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  Speaker 5: for taking part in the primary election in 2020. And
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  Speaker 5: as he is approaching his release in early 2027, the
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  Speaker 5: authorities decided to press another charge on him so that
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  Speaker 5: he would stay behind bars, so that he couldn't do
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  Speaker 5: what he would see as useful to Hong Kong and
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  Speaker 5: voice out for his own freedom and so on. So
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  Speaker 5: as a friend, I find this extremely excruciating to see.
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  Speaker 1: And Beijing, for its part, it's claiming that lobbying foreign
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  Speaker 1: governments for sanctions is a direct challenge to China's sovereignty.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you believe those actions should not be considered
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  Speaker 1: a national security threat?
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  Speaker 5: Because we're not asking for governments to support or do
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  Speaker 5: anything to overthrow the government. We're merely asking for accountability
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  Speaker 5: for human rights violations and accountability towards the promises made
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  Speaker 5: to Hong Kong under the Sino-British Declaration, which is.
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  Speaker 4: A treaty lodged at the UN. So what.
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  Speaker 5: many people in Hong Kong in 2019 or even before
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  Speaker 5: are doing is trying to say, please keep your promises.
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  Speaker 5: These are the things that were promised. And at the
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  Speaker 5: same time, if you're committing human rights violations, you should
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  Speaker 5: be held account for those actions as well. So that
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  Speaker 5: is all what people have been doing and calling for
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  Speaker 5: sanctions or lobbying foreign governments.
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  Speaker 4: Per se should not be a crime.
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  Speaker 5: We're merely exercising our rights to freedom of speech to say,
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  Speaker 5: we think you should be held accountable for for what
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  Speaker 5: you've done to the people of Hong Kong and to
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  Speaker 5: the city itself.
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  Speaker 1: Beijing is saying that national security law, that it restored
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  Speaker 1: stability after the mass protests of 2019. Critics say that
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  Speaker 1: it has effectively ended political opposition. Six years on, how
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  Speaker 1: has the law changed Hong Kong's political landscape, in your view?
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  Speaker 5: In six years, the law has drastically transformed Hong Kong
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  Speaker 5: from what we knew as having a very vibrant civil
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  Speaker 5: society to almost no civil society at all. Of course,
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  Speaker 5: there are people who are trying to do community organising,
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  Speaker 5: trying to run a bookstore, who subsequently were arrested, or
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  Speaker 5: there are people who are trying to make sure that
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  Speaker 5: there is still visible solidarity among Hong Kongers. But the
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  Speaker 5: room for any kind of meaningful opposition is very, very limited.
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  Speaker 5: Like taking as an example, the fire that happened last November.
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  Speaker 5: People simply asking for accountability for the fire, who is
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  Speaker 5: supposed to be responsible for the accident, would be arrested
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  Speaker 5: and then said what a petition would normally be accepted
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  Speaker 5: in a democratic society is an act of sedition. So
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  Speaker 5: all of these things adding together, you can see that
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  Speaker 5: there is very little room for any kind of expression
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  Speaker 5: of discontent towards the government or any kind of legitimate
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  Speaker 5: challenge to the policy of the city. And from what
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  Speaker 5: we saw like six years ago where people are willing
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  Speaker 5: and happy to speak up to now that people want
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  Speaker 5: to speak up but they can't without paying a huge
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  Speaker 5: price in terms of their freedoms and whether or not
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  Speaker 5: they can like have the freedom to move around the
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  Speaker 5: city or speak freely.
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  Speaker 1: Is that expression still happening though in your view? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you know Joshua Wong, you're friends with him, you're part
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  Speaker 1: of the pro-democracy movement. Is it happening in other circles,
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  Speaker 1: in other ways?
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  Speaker 5: It is definitely still happening in other circles in other ways,
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  Speaker 5: probably not as visible as we were used to back.
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  Speaker 4: In 2019 or 2020.
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  Speaker 5: But there are people like activists who are still using
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  Speaker 5: the court trials that they are going through as a
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  Speaker 5: platform to say what they believe in, to try to
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  Speaker 5: encourage people that we should not give up. We should
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  Speaker 5: still fight for our freedom and democracy. And that's our
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  Speaker 5: fundamental basic human rights. And at the same time, There
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  Speaker 5: are lots of people who are doing things outside of
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  Speaker 5: Hong Kong trying to make sure that people are aware
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  Speaker 5: of what's happening in the city.
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  Speaker 4: So even though I'd say it looks very.
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  Speaker 5: Sad on the surface that nothing is happening right now,
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  Speaker 5: but according to my knowledge, a lot of people are
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  Speaker 5: still trying to do what they can in their own
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  Speaker 5: way to try to make sure that the fight goes
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  Speaker 5: on in another way, not in the form of a
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  Speaker 5: mass protest or not in terms of like, organising themselves
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  Speaker 5: on the streets. But there are definitely people who are
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  Speaker 5: trying to make things better in Hong Kong.
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  Speaker 1: Looking beyond Joshua Wong as an individual, what do you
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  Speaker 1: think Hong Kong's future holds?
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  Speaker 5: What would Hong Kong's future look like depends on the
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  Speaker 5: international community, to be honest. I mean, the international community
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  Speaker 5: stood by and let Hong Kong fall into the state
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  Speaker 5: that it is in right I mean, as I said,
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  Speaker 5: the Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty lodged at the UN.
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  Speaker 4: All of the.
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  Speaker 5: UN countries have a responsibility to see it through, but
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  Speaker 5: they didn't. And right now what's happening to Joshua is
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  Speaker 5: he's being punished for fighting for what's promised for Hong Kongers.
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  Speaker 5: Because it's promised to us and therefore we want it
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  Speaker 5: and we deserve it. But at the same time, because
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  Speaker 5: international society is not doing enough beyond empty hand bringing,
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  Speaker 5: he is suffering as a result of that. So I
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  Speaker 5: think it is time for the international community to take
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  Speaker 5: a stand and make sure that they're having China policy
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  Speaker 5: that's realistic, not just adopting another business as usual approach
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  Speaker 5: as they have been in the past six years.
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  Speaker 1: Zhang Qingkuang, pro-democracy activist and senior analyst at the Inter-Parliamentary
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  Speaker 1: Alliance on China. Thanks for your time.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.