Hong Kong's 19-Year-Old Protest Hero Brings His Case To The U.S.
Joshua Wong has led thousands of protesters and has founded a new political party — and he’s not even 20 years old. Now he’s touring top U.S universities to talk about his cause.
This is Joshua Wong, a 19-year old student who is very popular in Hong Kong as the face of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement for the past five years.
Justin Tallis / AFP / Getty Images
How popular is he? In 2014, after tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong demanding more democracy, Time magazine's Asia edition called him "the face of protest" on its cover, just a few days before his 18th birthday. The New York Sun said he should be given a Nobel Peace Prize.
Time
The referendum is at the top of the agenda for Wong's brand-new political party, Demosistō, which means "People Standing." (He may have a party, but the 19-year-old has to wait two more years to be old enough to run for office.)
He now works as the general secretary of the party, which was launched on April 10.
Bobby Yip / Reuters