Freed democracy activist Joshua joins mass calls for leader to quit

HONG KONG, June 17 

Activist Joshua Wong, who has become the face of Hong Kong’s push for full democracy, walked free from prison on Monday and joined a mass protest movement demanding that the city’s Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, steps down.

His release comes as a political crisis in the Chinese-ruled city enters its second week, amid growing uncertainty over the fate of Lam and an extradition Bill she postponed at the weekend after it triggered one of the most violent protests in decades.

“I will join to fight against this evil law,” said Wong, 22, one of the leaders of the 2014 “Umbrella” pro-democracy protests that blocked major roads in Hong Kong for 79 days. “I believe this is the time for her, Carrie Lam the liar, to step down.”

Meanwhile, China redoubled its support for Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Monday after days of protests, and a source close to Lam said Beijing was unlikely to let her go even if she tried to resign.

Lam’s attempts to pass a Bill that would allow people in Hong Kong to be extradited to China for trial triggered the biggest and most violent protests in decades in the former British colony, now under Chinese rule.

The crisis escalated during Wong’s five-week jail term for contempt of court. Until this month, the failure of the “Umbrella” protests to wrest concessions from Beijing, coupled with prosecutions of at least 100 protesters, had discouraged many young people from going back out on the streets.

The upheaval comes at a delicate time for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is grappling with a deepening US trade war, an ebbing economy and regional strategic tension.

Many residents of Hong Kong are increasingly unnerved by Beijing’s tightening grip and what they see as the erosion of its freedoms, fearing that changes to the rule of law could imperil its status as a global financial centre.

Hong Kong has been governed under a “one country, two systems” formula since its return to Beijing, allowing freedoms not granted to the mainland, but short of a fully democratic vote.

As the crisis entered its second week, demonstrators and opposition politicians braved intermittent rain to gather near the government’s offices and urge her to kill the Bill and quit.

The Hong Kong police said late on Monday that 32 people had been arrested since Wednesday, when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters. Protest organisers said almost 2 million people - out of a population of around 7 million - turned out on Sunday to demand that Lam resign, in what is becoming the most significant challenge to China’s relationship with the territory since 1997.

The mass rally, which police said drew 338,000 participants at its peak, forced Lam to apologise for planning to push the bill through.

On Monday, protesters near the government’s offices blocked roads and urged Lam to withdraw the Bill, release arrested students, drop the official description of a rally on Wednesday that involved clashes with the police as a riot, and step down. — Reuters

Joshua wong — Poster child of ‘Umbrella Movement’

• Joshua Wong, the poster child of the huge pro-democracy “Umbrella Movement” protests of 2014, became the latest voice to call for Lam’s resignation as he was released from a sentence imposed over his leadership of those demonstrations
• “She is no longer qualified to be Hong Kong’s leader,” said Wong, who was sent to prison in May but released early for good behaviour. “I will also fight with all Hong Kongers to oppose the evil China extradition law” 
• Opposition to the extradition Bill united an unusually wide cross-section of Hong Kong in recent weeks, from influential legal and business bodies to religious leaders. Many Hong Kongers believe China’s leaders are stamping down on the financial hub’s unique freedoms and culture