Hong Kong youth’s battle cry: may the force still be with us

One of the appealing things about Joshua Wong, who is at the heart of the Hong Kong democracy movement, is his love of Star Wars.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong. Picture: Getty Images

One of the appealing things about Joshua Wong, who is at the heart of the Hong Kong democracy movement, is his love of Star Wars.

While older generations looked to Che Guevara or Martin Luther King, Wong and his young ­allies take their inspiration from Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

His recent book, Unfree Speech, contains references to Darth Vader and The Empire Strikes Back.

By this analogy, we are at the point where stormtroopers are at the door, the rebels are low on ­ammunition, and the place is surrounded.

China’s imposition of the ­national security law makes it difficult to feel optimistic.

Even before the details became known on Tuesday night, it was clear this is the biggest blow to the territory’s freedoms, and its democracy, since the handover from Britain exactly 23 years ago.

It is easy to imagine what is to come, perhaps not immediately, but before long: the incursion of Chinese state security forces, ­intimidation and the arrest of Wong and his allies.

Even now it would be a mistake to write off Hong Kong’s opposition or the prospects for continuing peaceful resistance. The law is in itself a recognition of the remarkable success of the democracy movement and the failure of Chinese policy in Hong Kong.

Since the massacre of pro-democracy students in Tiananmen Square in June 1989, the Communist Party has all but crushed opposition to its rule on the mainland. But in Hong Kong it has failed.

China has had their whole lives to charm, impress or cajole Wong and others. It is a measure of its ­incompetence that it has alienated a generation. It is not only the young. The mass demonstrations that began last year drew power from the participation of ordinary Hongkongers.

Democrats in the territory know that hope lies in mobilising foreign opinion.

They recognise that unease about the new security law is part of a broader anxiety about China’s growing assertiveness in a range of fields.

Wong cites the canary in the coalmine: if Hong Kong is cowed, then can it be long before Beijing moves to bring Taiwan under its direct control, and to use its growing military power directly to challenge India and even Japan?

It is a strong argument for standing up to Beijing earlier ­rather than later, and for reassuring the people of Hong Kong that the force is still with them.

The Times