Do we like them?

Do we like Joshua Wong?

Our score: 9 out of 10. Backed LGBTQ+ equality in his own words and has spent years in jail for democracy; the gaps are topics we found nothing on.

Joshua Wong was a schoolkid when he became Hong Kong's face of resistance. At about 15 he helped found the student group Scholarism and rallied more than 100,000 people against a school curriculum many saw as political indoctrination. Two years later, aged 17, he was a leading figure in the 79-day Umbrella Movement street occupation.

From there it's been a long road of arrests. He co-founded the party Demosistō in 2016, which disbanded in June 2020 as the national security law arrived. He was jailed over 2019 protests and an unauthorised Tiananmen vigil, then got four years and eight months for conspiracy to commit subversion over the 2020 democratic primary, after pleading guilty.

The latest chapter is the heavy one. Prosecutors said he and exiled activist Nathan Law asked foreign governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China, citing meetings with US politicians including Nancy Pelosi and Marco Rubio. Wong pleaded guilty on 2 September. Human Rights Watch says none of the material cited directly called for sanctions, and calls the charges baseless.

On 5 November Judge William Tam said the offence was grave, adding that “The punishment must fit the gravity of the crime.” He started at 13 years and cut it after the plea to 10, partly running alongside his old term. HRW says he could be held until late 2036. Human Rights Watch's Elaine Pearson called the sentence “cruel and unjust”, and where you land depends on whether you see it as law enforcement or as punishment for lobbying.

The good stuff is basically the whole story. He has spent about six years behind bars for pushing for democracy, and his lawyer argued for a shorter sentence on that basis. Friends say he stays active in detention, working out, playing guitar and studying. Plenty of people talk about courage; he has cashed the cheque.

The honest caveat is that a lot of what we know comes from rights groups and Western governments, who are on his side, while Beijing and Hong Kong authorities see it very differently. Even so, the court record shows what he did: lobbying, protesting, running in a primary. Those things are legal in most places we'd want to live.