A Christian pro-democracy campaigner, who said his motivation for joining activism was that ‘we should be salt and light’, has been sentenced to almost five more years in prison, having already served three since 2021.
He is one of 45 pro-democracy demonstrators falling victim to a government crackdown on anti-establishment demonstrations.
Joshua Wong, 28, was one of several activists who led marches in Hong Kong in support of democracy, freedom and the rule of law. The protests were attended by hundreds of thousands and took various forms, including the singing of hymns on the streets.
Wong, who has been sentenced to another four years and eight months behind bars, was brought up in a Christian family and his faith has been instrumental to who he has become. Krish Kandiah revealed in a post on X that Wong said: ‘I’m a Christian and my motivation for joining activism is that I think we should be salt and light.’
Kandiah told en that, having already gone through an extended court process involving several appeals, there is little prospect of Wong’s latest sentence being overturned.
Christians in Hong Kong are officially entitled to freedom of religious expression and are still meeting for worship. However, following the government’s mass trial against pro-democracy campaigners, Kandiah revealed that while Christians are not being specifically targeted, many believers are ‘nervous about political engagement’.
This is perhaps somewhat reflected by recent immigration figures; Kandiah also revealed that since 2020, about 200,000 Hong Kongers have entered the UK and that the UK’s churches have done an ‘amazing job’ of welcoming and providing for many of them.
