Joshua Wong - Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now

Joshua Wong represents a new generation of rebel. They were born into the globalised, post-internet era, raised in the late 1990s and early 2000s under a modern societal and knowledge structure that was relatively democratic and free. Their worldview is markedly different from that of the established capitalist culture fixated on profit above all else.

From the Umbrella Movement in 2014 to todays protests that have spurred on over a hundred days of resistance, we have seen the rise of a very special and brand-new rebel in Hong Kong. Joshua and his contemporaries are the vanguard of this phenomenon. They are rational and principled, clear as crystal in their objectives and as accurate as numbers. All they require and demand is a single value: freedom. They believe that through safeguarding the liberties of every citizen by demonstrating their rights in a highly visible way, we can achieve justice and democracy in any society.

This generation understands, lucidly, that freedom is not a given condition; rather, it is something to achieve through constant effort and struggle. These young people have borne a great responsibility, and many are now suffering because of it. Some have lost their promising young lives. But these activists can and will reach their goal, because we all know that freedom without hardship is not true freedom.

True freedom finds its value in hard work and determination. This is what Joshuas generation have come to realise through their own experiences. They are confronted with an authoritarian regime an embodiment of centralised state power and the repression of human rights that we see in China and in other countries around the world. The scale of what this regime symbolises elevates the efforts of Joshuas generation to a heroism found in myths: the underdog locked in a struggle against powerful dark forces. I am confident that the citizens of Hong Kong, and those who march for their own rights and causes elsewhere, will overcome the massive establishment and will shape the world with the most powerful message: freedom, justice, and liberty for all.

Joshuas generation advocates for two of the most precious values created by humankind over thousands of years: social fairness and justice. These are the most important cornerstones of any civilisation. Throughout history, in pursuit of these principles humans have paid a great price, with too many deaths, misfortunes, betrayals and grave instances of opportunism.

Today we see that betrayal and opportunism everywhere in the so-called free world. In the West, it is ubiquitous. Joshuas generation is openly challenging all of these acts of duplicity, weakness and evasion in the name of defending humanitys core beliefs.

The young people of Hong Kong are realising a great social ideal in the spirit of sacrifice, similar to faith or religion. Together, their actions, their inherent understanding of the conflict and their awareness of the difficult realities they face are helping the whole world recognise what a real revolution is. This is what we have been waiting for, and I hope that the revolution, guided by Joshua and his generation, will be witnessed all over the world.

Ai Weiwei

18 October 2019