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Hong Kong police arrested prominent democracy activist Joshua Wong on Thursday for his participation in a protest last October and for wearing a mask at the time. He was released the same day on bail.
Wong, 23, has openly supported the global call to boycott Disney’s new live-action film, “Mulan,” and tweeted on its Sept. 4 release date: “I urge all who believe in rights humans to #BoycottMulan. ” The protest that prompted his arrest is a continuation of the same pro-democracy movement condemned last summer by Disney star Liu Yifei and her “Mulan” co-star Donnie Yen.
In controversial posts on social media, both actors expressed their support for the Hong Kong police, which had been condemned a few days earlier by the UN Human Rights Office for “using less lethal weapons in ways that are prohibited by law. and international standards “.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post days after the film’s premiere on Disney Plus, Wong said: “Now is the time to let Disney know that bowing to China should not be the way out, and for celebrities or any actor who endorses police brutality, the world will give you [a] answer.”
Outside the police station where he was charged Thursday, Wong hinted that his arrest was politically motivated, stating: “I think an obvious reason is that the regime authorities are overlapping one case with another to try to confine all the activists within the borders of Hong Kong “.
Veteran social activist Koo Sze-yiu, 73, was also arrested on Thursday for “knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly” in the same October protest, Hong Kong police confirmed, but not for wearing a face cover. .
Wong’s arrest comes at a time during the coronavirus pandemic when all Hong Kong residents are legally required to wear masks, but experts say the government will argue that the situation was different at the time of the protest in question last year.
His arrest comes a month after Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was arrested on charges of collusion with foreign forces.
Wong became the face of pro-democracy student-led Umbrella Movement protests in Hong Kong in 2014 at age 17. It is the subject of the 2017 Netflix documentary “Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower.”
He dissolved his pro-democracy group Demosisto in June, hours before Beijing passed a controversial new national security law for Hong Kong, which has been widely criticized by Western governments for restricting freedoms in the financial center. It penalizes anything that Beijing considers subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with charges that include up to life imprisonment.
Three of Wong’s fellow activists there, including 23-year-old Agnes Chow, were among 10 arrested in August for alleged violations of the law. Chow, also released on bail, was dubbed “the real Mulan” by some fellow activists who felt her willingness to fight for Hong Kong’s freedoms embodied the legendary character better than Liu.
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