Thread by @CoDieckmann

@joshuawongcf has arrived at @HumboldtUni. Room is packed. His speech is in about 20 minutes. I'll be live tweeting.

#HongKong

"Summer of discontent" has become "year of discontent" says @joshuawongcf. Have to "confront Emperor Xi instead of President Xi".

#HongKong

#HongKong no longer even "one country, one and a half systems"

Stresses once more that he is not the leader of this movement, just an individual, "just like everyone of you"

"Withdrawal of the [extradition] bill is not victory", even though it's an achievement.

"Could Tiananmen Square happen again? My answer is: never say never", says @joshuawongcf.

@joshuawongcf asks to "shine a global spotlight on Hong Kong instead of my personal journey (...) The price that I pay is just a small piece of cake."

Repeats that "Hong Kong is the new Berlin in the new Cold War."

In light of the trade war, the Taiwan presidential election, & China's desire to forge economic friendship with Germany, asks for solidarity. "I hope Hong Kong will never walk alone".

@joshuawongcf: I told @HeikoMaas that "political crisis must be solved by political system reform", & that Germany mustn't be partner to police brutality.

Question from a Chinese mainlander living in Germany: "I don't understand your political aims. (...) I have the impression that you're just rampaging the airport". Says he was on Tiananmen Sq in 1989 as a student.

Question: "do you want an independent HK?"

@joshuawongcf answers that, first of all, the movement is not a "riot" (as the gentleman who asked the question called it). The aim of the movement, says Wong, is to hold police to account for violence and, ultimately, to achieve universal suffrage: "to elect our Chief Executive"

HK activist @yikmowong: "99% of the violence is coming from police".

Asked about Taiwan, @joshuawongcf, he hopes it's not a case of "today Hong Kong, tomorrow Taiwan" but rather, implying development in the other direction, "today Taiwan, tomorrow Hong Kong".

What can Germans do? @yikmowong says, voice raised: "You have democracy!" – use that privilege.

Asked about often leveled charge of “Western inference” in #HK.

@joshuawongcf: “From my point of view, Hong Kong is a global city. Not only Beijing has a say on it.”

@joshuawongcf talks about his detention at HK airport before his flight to Europe last Saturday, but “far more radical force” has been used by police, eg sexual harrassment and violence in police stations w/o CCTV.

Referring back to a previous question, @joshuawongcf jokes: “Yeah, I still have time to watch Netflix sometimes.”

Q: Are there downsides to movement’s leaderlessness?

@joshuawongcf: Umbrella Movement, 5 yr ago, was like traditional encyclopedia. This year’s “summer of discontent”, it’s more like Wikipedia, implying he’s no longer editor. “Anyone can engage in this movement spontaneously.”

Q: “Do you receive death threats?”

@joshuawongcf says yes, he’s received death threats online in simplified Chinese. Says he’s also experienced violence from pro-Beijing people on the street.

Q: Do you know if there are young people in mainland China who support your cause?

Thanks for reading, everyone. To finish this off, here's the audio from my question to @joshuawongcf: What did you tell Heiko Maas and German MPs?

"Safeguarding Hong Kong's political and economic freedom is not only the responsibility of Hong Kong people."