Thread by @joshuawongcf

1/ Why are booksellers, writers & publishers seen as such a threat to undemocratic governance?

1.1/ Under digital authoritarianism, China has established successful ways of censoring. For printed materials, the cost is much higher.

1.2/ Making use of that loophole, many liberal scholars & dissidents use books as an essential medium of disseminating critical voices. Many independent booksellers choose to set up bookstores in HK to sell sensitive books to travellers from China.

1.3/ Most of these books criticise China’s governance. That is why the Beijing authority has begun to close this loophole in recent years, kidnapping and imprisoning booksellers like Gui Minhai.

2/ Joshua, do you feel old?

2.1/ During 2019, I didn't have that kind of feeling, as more underaged protesters risked their lives & struggled for the city’s future. At age of 10, kids are supposed to have happy childhoods, playing video games after school & hanging out with fds.

2.2/ But under authoritarian rule, children have to fight for their future and safeguard the city’s vanishing liberties. They were unlawfully assaulted, injured, sacrificed, disappeared. Some have had to flee to other countries, looking for political asylum.

2.3/ That is not the life that our kids are supposed to live. They are young, but they suffer most. That is also the drive that pushes me to do more.

3/ Standing with Hong Kong: An Interview with Joshua Wong, authors of #UnfreeSpeech, discuss free speech in Hong Kong, coronavirus, and the role of literature in campaigning for global democracy: pentransmissions.com/2020/03/31/sta…

More about my book: hyperurl.co/unfreespeech