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| I wrote about Joshua Wong here |
LETTER TO SCMP:
Memo to Hong Kong government: banning Joshua Wong from standing in the DC elections? Come on! I have no time for rabble rouser Wong [example]. He presses the US to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Bill; this is dangerous and likely to hurt us. Wong is naive and misguided, in my view. But that's no reason to ban him.
He must be allowed to stand for the forthcoming elections. Let's hope the legal review allows it. He has clarified he does not stand for independence, previously the main objection to his candidacy.
In these difficult times, you again miss an opportunity to ease tensions.
How tin-eared, how insensitive, how misjudging. There's an opportunity to reverse. Please take it.
Pf, etc...
PS: Wong is Secretary-General of an outfit called Demosisto. Its 2017 membership is 25 people. It advocates “self-determination” for Hong Kong, though Wong now says that does not mean “independence”. If he clarified that it means “Hong Kong people ruling (or running) Hong Kong” that would be better, because that’s an approved phrase going back to 1984 and Deng Xiaoping. In Chinese 港人治港, Gang ren zhi gang.
RELATED: "By blocking Joshua Wong from standing for election, Hong Kong is just driving protesters back to the streets", by Mike Chinoy
AND ALSO: a Letter I hadn’t seen: “Wong election ban more proof of a clueless government"
