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Joshua Wong Chi-fung also said he was proud of Hongkongers for standing up. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong ‘can’t help but laugh’ after learning of record turnout for protest march against his jailing

Student leader’s father, Roger Wong, hits out at Chief Executive Carrie Lam, saying she can’t understand how mothers of imprisoned trio feel because her sons went to Cambridge

Joshua Wong

Political activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung laughed in his prison cell, saying he was proud of Hongkongers after learning that tens of thousands of residents marched on Sunday in support of him and other recently imprisoned protesters, according to his party, Demosisto.

Meanwhile, the student leader’s father, Roger Wong Wai-ming, hit out at Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who earlier said she could understand how the mothers of the jailed activists felt, as she too was a mother of two sons.

The elder Wong suggested that Lam would not understand how the mothers felt because her children had been “educated at Cambridge”.

Demosisto chairman Nathan Law Kwun-chung, the party’s secretary-general Joshua Wong and non-affiliated activist Alex Chow Yong-kang were jailed by the Court of Appeal last week for storming the government headquarters in September 2014 in the run-up to the Occupy protests, in which they played a leading role.

The trio was originally given community service orders or a suspended jail term, but the justice department filed for a sentencing review and succeeded in obtaining a stiffer penalty, with the trio being jailed for six to eight months.

On Sunday, 22,000 demonstrators, according to a police estimate, took to the streets to express support for the three student leaders, as well as 13 activists jailed last week by the same panel of judges over another protest in June 2014.

Two student activists jailed along with Joshua Wong in Hong Kong moved to separate prisons

According to a message released by Demosisto, Joshua Wong said that when he heard on the radio on Monday morning that the turnout for the march on Sunday had hit a record high since the umbrella movement, he “couldn’t help but laugh in bed”.

“That’s really touching, thank you for standing up,” he continued. “Looking at the crowd on Sunday, I am proud of Hong Kong people, and I believe we can continue with our path of democracy. I hope you will all care about other people imprisoned because their struggles. Hongkongers, don’t give up!”

Wong said he was going to take graphic design classes in jail so that he could help with the party’s publicity work after his release.

On Monday, Lam said she understood how the jailed activists’ mothers felt. But on Tuesday night, Roger Wong posted a picture of the chief executive on his Facebook page with the heading: “Cold words in a hot summer” and a question for Lam.

The question was: “Your two sons were educated at Cambridge, and one of them is a manager of a large company on the mainland. How could you understand the feelings of the mothers of the imprisoned?”

Police estimated that 22,000 people marched in the protest. Photo: David Wong

Earlier on Tuesday, Wong had posted another picture of Lam, asking: “Who is affecting judicial independence?”

Elaborating on his question in a third post on Wednesday morning, Wong said it was wrong for Lam to accuse critics of undermining the city’s judicial independence.

He said the criticism of the judges and their rulings had been made by intellectuals. Only a “totalitarian regime” would condemn critics and not reflect on the problems, he said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Activist in jail delighted to hear of rally turnout
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