[Joshua Wong interview at @timesuk: Xi won’t win this battle]
Beijing believes punitive prison sentences will put an end to pro-democracy protests. It couldn’t be more wrong, the 23-year-old says.
thetimes.co.uk/article/joshua…
1/ In "#UnfreeSpeech - The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now", Wong argues that China is not only HK’s problem (hyperurl.co/unfreespeech). “It is an urgent message that people need to defend their rights, against China & authoritarians, wherever they live.”
2/ Wong acknowledges there are gloomy scenarios but remains a robust optimist. “Freedom and democracy can prevail in the same way that they did in eastern Europe, even though before the Berlin Wall fell, few people believed it would happen."
3/ He is tired of the predictions of think-tank pundits, journalists and the like. 3 decades ago, with the implosion of communism in the Soviet bloc, many were confidently saying that the demise of the people’s republic was only a matter of time.
4/ Jump forward 20 years, amid the enthusiasm after the Beijing Olympics, and they were predicting market reforms and a growing middle class would presage liberalisation. Neither scenario has unfolded, Wong notes.
5/ “They are pretending to hold the crystal ball to predict the future, but look at their record and it is clear no one knows what will happen by 2047. Will the Communist Party even still exist?”
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