Carrie Lam's failures have radicalized the new generation, says liberated activist | News from the world

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam is the person responsible for mobilizing the biggest demonstration in the city's history, said liberated student activist Joshua Wong.

The 22-year-old, who was the face of the latest major protests in Hong Kong in 2014, was released from prison on Monday after a two-month contempt sentence.

He said that despite Lam's "sincere and solemn" apology at a press conference and his allusion to the fact that the extradition law that sparked this month's mbad protests had indeed been withdrawn, the Executive Director did not respond to any of her critics' requests.

"For the protest of 2 million people, everything she said is sorry, but she completely ignored the public opinion," Wong told the Guardian. "She could not even promise not to raise the bill during her tenure."

Lam only promised that she would not reinstate the extradition law – which would allow Hong Kongers to be extradited to a Chinese justice system where the conviction rate is often as high as 99% – before it expires in July of next year, and she refused to intervene. before the end of his term in 2022.

The protesters demand that she completely withdraw the law on extradition and report police brutality during protests in which riot police used rubber bullets and tear gas. They also want her to release those arrested, refrain from calling a riot at last week's protest and resign.

Social media posts indicate that unless these demands are addressed by 5 pm on Thursday, protesters will gather outside government headquarters the next day.

"In the context of the G20 meeting, it is essentially mobilizing people to take to the streets and interfere. [the Chinese president] Xi Jinping, "said Wong. The 2019 G20 summit of the world's leading economies will be held in Japan on June 28-29.

Wong acknowledged, however, that in a semi-autonomous city where civil liberties are preserved, but without democracy, to force the government to indefinitely suspend the bill was "a symbolic achievement, even if it does not occur. was not a complete victory.

The poor living conditions in Hong Kong prisons, which were only allowed to change uniforms once every four days without air conditioning in subtropical heat, did not appear to have undermined Wong's determination. . The Demosistō party general secretary said he regretted not having attended the mbad protests of the last 10 days and that he was eager to participate in any further action.

Despite his youth, Wong is a seasoned activist. At age 15, he became the face of a campaign that in 2012 forced the authorities to suspend a project to introduce "national education" in Hong Kong schools. He was one of the leaders of the 2014 "Umbrella Movement", which began when he was almost 18 years old.

When asked if he would like to be the leader of the next round of protests, Wong avoided. He said: "As an organic movement, the anti-extradition demonstration is very decentralized. The key is not who is leading it.

Many have heard of the events through messaging services, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, or social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. "When a movement does not count leaders, it is even more the responsibility of the authorities to make concessions because they have no one to negotiate with and they can not just arrest one of the leaders," he said. -he declares.

Opposition to the extradition bill came not only from the youth and democracy advocacy camp, but also from the business sector. Mbadive protest participation, estimated at 1 million on 9 June and close to 2 million on 16 June, is beyond the imagination of anyone, Wong said.

"The price they pay to turn Hong Kong into a war zone, is that they discover that the reaction of the people can be so strong," said Wong.

He added that the people of Hong Kong had been struggling to preserve their freedoms since it came into force under Chinese rule in 1997 – from opposition to a 2003 subversion law that had inspired 500,000 people to walk, in recent years. events. Each time, the fighting spirit became stronger, he said.

"They have already radicalized a whole generation of young people," Wong said.

However, even under the "one country, two systems" policy – which China has committed to respect 50 years after the transfer of its former colony by Britain – Hong Kong does not that little political room for maneuver and the ultimate goal of democracy seems far away.

When asked if he could face the same fate as the Chinese student leaders who exiled after the suppression of the pro-democracy Tiananmen movement 30 years ago, Wong said, "We do not want to be like them; that's why we do what we do now. "