The jailing of Joshua Wong, Hong Kong’s youthful “face of protest”, and of his fellow activists Nathan Law and Alex Chow, is technically a matter of law but in reality one of politics. Two of them had already carried out community service for unlawful assembly or inciting unlawful assembly; the third had received a suspended sentence. They have been at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement, inspiring many more in Hong Kong to rally in defence of the greater freedoms it has enjoyed compared to the mainland under the “one country-two systems” formula. They remind us, if reminder were needed, that civil society and the judicial system in Hong Kong are under mounting pressure. But nor, clearly, can they rely on the electoral systems which allow Hong Kong people some degree of say.

Source: The Guardian August 17, 2017 18:45 UTC