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Tag: Activism
In jailing Joshua Wong, China is telling the world they’d crush every hope for democracy on its soil | Nathan Law
Client Challenge JavaScript is disabled in your browser. Please enable JavaScript to proceed. A required part of this site couldn’t load. This may be due to a browser extension, network issues, or browser settings. Please check your connection, disable any ad blockers, or try using a different browser. The Guardian
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong sentenced to 10 years in prison in national security case
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to “foreign collusion”, his second conviction under a national security law that critics say has been used to silence political opposition in the city. Wong, who rose to prominence as the teenage face of Hong Kong’s 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations, submitted his plea in September. He had been accused of working with the exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law to urge foreign powers to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures against China. In…
Dissident detained in South Korea after fleeing China in rubber boat
A Chinese dissident has washed up on the shores of South Korea after attempting to flee China in a rubber boat. Dong Guangping, 68, is in custody in South Korea, having been detained by the coastguard on Monday evening. He is thought to have travelled more than 30 hours by sea to reach the shores of China’s democratic neighbour. Dong has tried to escape from China on several previous occasions, according to media reports and interviews with two of his friends. In 2015, he fled with his wife and daughter…
We can be heroes: the inspiring people we met around the world in 2025 – part one
The Indigenous doctor uniting western and traditional medicine in Brazil In 2012, Adana Omágua Kambeba travelled 4,000km (2,500 miles) from her home in Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon, to take up a coveted place to study medicine at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in south-east Brazil. She became the first among her people, the Kambeba, or Omágua, to graduate in the field, still largely dominated by white elites. According to the 2022 census, Indigenous people represented 0.1% of those who graduated in medicine in Brazil. Even before receiving her…
I’m a Chinese pro-democracy activist. Here’s how to find courage to oppose Trump | Yaqiu Wang
While acting on your moral convictions can be risky, it can also feel profoundly good In the eleven months since Donald Trump took office – during which he has unleashed unprecedented assaults on the checks and balances of American democracy – there has been a wave of warnings and advice from activists, writers and scholars who have either fought against authoritarian regimes or studied them closely. A common thread runs through much of their guidance: Americans, especially those in positions of power, must find the courage to stand up for…
I’m a Chinese pro-democracy activist. Here’s how to find courage to oppose Trump | Yaqiu Wang
In the eleven months since Donald Trump took office – during which he has unleashed unprecedented assaults on the checks and balances of American democracy – there has been a wave of warnings and advice from activists, writers and scholars who have either fought against authoritarian regimes or studied them closely. A common thread runs through much of their guidance: Americans, especially those in positions of power, must find the courage to stand up for what is right, even when doing so carries personal risk. Yet few have addressed the…
‘They told me not to speak out’: the woman who took on China – and won her husband’s freedom
Zeynure Hasan was at home in Istanbul in July 2021 when her husband finally called. It had been four days since she last heard from him as he got ready to board a flight to Casablanca. The silence had been torturous. But the news Idris now shared with her was even worse. He had been arrested and imprisoned on arrival in Morocco and told he was going to be deported to China. “You should call anyone who can help me, anyone who can rescue me,” he told her, before the…
‘I don’t expect to live a normal life’: how a Leeds teenager woke up with a Chinese bounty on her head
It was Christmas Eve 2024 and 19-year-old Chloe Cheung was lying in bed at home in Leeds when she found out the Chinese authorities had put a bounty on her head. As she scrolled through Instagram looking at festive songs, a stream of messages from old school friends started coming into her phone. Look at the news, they told her. Media outlets across east Asia were reporting that Cheung, who had just finished her A-levels, had been declared a threat to national security by officials in Hong Kong. There was…
Hong Kong activists in Britain should be able to rely on police protection | Letter
The UK has become a hunting ground for authoritarian regimes targeting dissidents, journalists and students. It is appalling that Hong Kong activists who sought refuge here met fear, harassment and intimidation from the government they had escaped, only to receive inadequate protection and little coordinated response (Hong Kong democracy campaigner accuses UK police of asking her to ‘self-censor’, 1 August). Amnesty International has repeatedly documented the Chinese government’s transnational repression, including the surveillance and intimidation of students and activists here in the UK. This includes an alarming escalation in threats…