There is no rift with Federation of Students over hunger strike, says Joshua Wong

Scholarism convenor Joshua Wong Chi-fung has rejected suggestions that his hunger strike plan has caused a split with the Federation of Students.

Wong said the move was part of a two-pronged strategy and the federation was responsible for other aspects of the movement.

Asked if there was a rift, Wong said: "Of course not. You can see that our friends at the federation are mainly in charge of escalating action. As for the hunger strike, Scholarism is in charge."

Watch: Joshua Wong on hunger strike to press for political reform

Wong said his group had discussed the plan with the federation before announcing it on Monday night. But federation secretary general Alex Chow Yong-kang told Apple Daily yesterday he had not been aware of when it would be announced.

Chow told the Post his group decided not to join the hunger strike as "it may not be an effective way to pursue a dialogue with the government". They would instead preserve their energy and resources for community work. Wong said his group - which represents secondary school pupils - took on the hunger strike as the older students in the federation were better able to endure the rigours of frontline protest. "It's a division of labour," he said.