‘Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now’ by Joshua Wong — A Review by Brandon Ho
‘Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now’ written by Joshua Wong and Jason Y. Ng with an introduction by renowned artist Ai Wei Wei is a 2020 publication, which at its core, aims at calling the international community to action against what Wong believes to be the greatest threat to ‘global democracy’.
My expectations for the book were not high. I expected to be told what the greatest threat to global democracy was and why I should act now, in a well thought through, logical, and methodological structure. Instead, I was treated to a muddled piece of literature which focused more on how to take action rather than why, and establishing the foundations of a cult of personality.
At its core, Wong’s message is there but only as a shallow message strung together by convoluted points. Throughout the book, Wong zealously attributes every issue present in Hong Kong to a lack of democratic representation within the city, and though I admire his fervour, there is not a single moment dedicated to asking himself ‘why?’ There is no attempt to further understand his own actions of the actions of the opposition. Despite a handful of attempts to appear moderate and fair in this book, too many instances seem to say otherwise.
Though I am grateful for Wong for increasing political awareness in Hong Kong and sharing to the world the issues that exist in Hong Kong’s culture and society. I cannot recommend this book to anyone who wishes to be intellectually enlightened by the great mind that is Joshua Wong.
The book’s introduction begins with Ai Wei Wei drawing observations from the Umbrella Movement of 2014, and the Extradition Bill Protests of 2019. Ai describes a new generation of rebels characterised by rationality, principles, and clear objectivity. This new rebel desires not to be involved in the capitalist culture “fixated in profit above all else.” (p.xi) Instead, they only demand and require freedom, freedom from the “dark forces” of China (p.xii). With Joshua Wong as the embodiment of this generation and at the helm of this movement, the youth of Hong Kong need only to demonstrate their rights in a highly visible way to “achieve justice and democracy in any society.” (p.xi)
Ai’s introduction works well to set the tone for the book: one-dimensional and propaganda-like. The introduction is nothing short of an attempt at indoctrinating youth into an absolutist mindset that fails to encapsulate the complexity of the political and philosophical landscape. Big ideas like ‘freedom’, ‘social fairness’, ‘justice’, and ‘democracy’ are thrown about but never elaborated on or discussed. It is, however, heavily inferred that these aforementioned ideas are good. But what even is good? Why is it good?
Although the Chinese Communist Party does have its fair share of issues, nothing in this world is ever as black and white as Ai makes it to be. The struggle Ai paints is one of mythic proportions, ‘good versus evil’, ‘light versus darkness’. Though a romantic and even a pretty picture, too much is lost in this gross simplification of what is happening in Hong Kong. There lies in this piece of writing too much potential for readers to be swindled into this oversimplification and absolutist mindset.
The prologue of the book is one of the best sections in the book, it is clear, coherent, and gets straight to the point. It contains a good summary for each act of the book and provides for a motivation behind his writing. However, for a book with the commanding phrase of “why we must act now” in its title, there is a disproportionately small section dedicated to explaining why. In addition, the language used in the prologue gave me reason to worry as to what the message was of the book. The use of language, calling himself a ‘political prisoner’, using religious language to relate his experience as a “genesis story”, and comparing himself to other imprisoned activists like Martin Luther King Jr and Liu Xiaobo, made me question his intent in writing this book. By the end of the prologue I understood the book not merely as a ‘call to action’ but a book with aims to mobilise the people of Hong Kong under Joshua Wong’s Wing.
Act one begins with his upbringing and ends with his prison sentencing in 2017. Although an argument for democracy barely exists in this section, I agreed with much of what he had to say, but also remained cautious on what he had inferred.
His experience of growing up in Hong Kong resonated with me. His observations of the problems of Hong Kong like its cultural existentialism, toxic parent-youth culture, growing wealth gap, growing extremism, and encroachments from the CCP all struck a tone. However, the delivery of concerns were vague and lacked exploration. Wong does little to show the reader how life has changed since the handover, and for a book that argues that China is changing the way of life in Hong Kong, there was hardly a comparison to begin with. The mentioning of democracy in this chapter was mainly for accountability. The argument goes, ‘If Hong Kong had democracy, these (social, economic, political) issues would not exist.’ As with all blanket solutions there is a lack of thought in the processes, implications, and application. There is surely a message here, but I’m not sure it’s very well thought through.
An interesting observation I made was in his presentation of his upbringing and background. The selective mentioning of his Christianity (and subsequent uses of religious language and analogies), his zodiac sign, explaining the meaning of his name, and all the great actions he’s done in his adolescence gave me concern. In his description of himself, the righteousness, the flawlessness, and the deterministic view of himself raised a few concerns of a construction of a cult of personality. I am not certain if this was the intention, but with the inclusion of the high praise of Ai Wei Wei, and lack of critical thought or self-questioning, it does raise some concerns as to what impression this book will leave on more impressionable readers.
One specific point of concern is in his problematic account of history which should only be taken in for consideration, but not application. To call his accounts dishonest would be slightly extreme on my part but they certainly lack objectivity. I would caution readers to do their due diligence and conduct research themselves. His accounts of experiences with China seem only to be negative and indoctrinated since youth. For example, his grandmother equated the Chinese government to “thieves and murderers”, his observations from his trip to Guangzhou as a child left him only with an ‘us versus them’ mentality, and his thoughts towards China were clearly affected by his mother claiming that the controversial Article 23 bill would have had all his video games taken away.
The biggest problem with this section and subsequent sections (as will be discussed later) of the book is in its obvious biases, oversimplifications, and vagueness. Understanding the issues and solutions are not the problem, it’s at what scope the reader will understand that is the bigger concern. However problematic though, there is a great message of standing up for what you believe in which should not be overlooked.
His thoughts from the prison cell gives the reader an opportunity to peek into Wong’s mind. Accompanied with Act I, the reader can see how his account of his upbringing has shaped his thoughts and actions in his prison entries. In ‘Act II’ his accounts of being a troublemaker, the anecdotal meaning of his name, and his political fervour shine through. Admirably though, his zeal comes from a place of love, a love for the city.
One of my favourite aspects of this act is the amount of attention Wong gives to the social issues present in Hong Kong. He sheds light on issues like social mobility, the deep divisions in society, the unhealthy relationship Hong Kong people have with education and work, the plight of ethnic minorities, and the informal classism that exists. These are often issues swept aside in favour for the much more interesting topic of economics. Again however, discussion of the problems are kept to the minimum, and all solutions are solved with democracy. This book would have been greatly elevated in my regards had he dabbled in some thought experiments and truly explored different ways of solving the listed issues.
The closest account which encapsulates what I expected from this book was ‘A Six Pronged Plan of Resistance’. A more well thought through piece of writing expressing goals, concerns, and evidence of some critical thinking. Though still muddled with heuristic shortcuts, it is the best entry in the book.
Issues I took note of in this section were his accounts of events that were happening while he was in prison, his self-imposed sentencing as a ‘political prisoner’, and his false moderacy.
Reading about events from the past as they happened according to Wong during his prison sentence was intriguing. It was especially interesting to read about his thoughts on the infamous ‘Oathgate’. To Wong, the disqualification of his party-mates from the legislative council due to deliberately botching their oaths to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China was seen as unjust, and a ‘ploy by the ruling elite to remove pro-democracy law-makers.’ It should be noted that Wong conveniently left out the details of the events that led to the whole ordeal. The actions that led to ‘Oathgate’ were mistakes and an example of political miscalculation to the highest scale. As with Act I, accounts like this one should be taken as supplemental.
From the prologue, Wong had described himself as a political prisoner. No clear indication or exploration is put into the meaning of this description, only that he likens his (68 day) prison struggle to that of Liu Xiaobo and Martin Luther King Jr. A quick google search on Wong’s sentencing would give anyone with 2 minutes of spare time to understand the nature of Wong’s arrest on the grounds of unlawful assembly. This leads me to believe his self-described sentencing as a political prisoner and likening himself to world renowned activists is to imbue himself with a higher sense of importance. Throughout Act II, you see his sense of self-importance throughout his prison journals. What this observation means can be decided by the reader. Was he intentionally muddying the reason for his arrest for a more favourable fable? On a final note, what I found interesting to be littered everywhere throughout Acts I and II were his references to Marvel superheroes, Gundams, and biblical figures. Was this a sign of his cunning and subtle genius of trying to establish himself as a modern hero?
Although Wong presents himself to the reader as a moderate, his zeal and fervour often seeps through. In one entry, he makes the observation that the divisions in society are only going to be increasingly polarised yet at the same time asks for Churches to “take a stand” in politics. His arrogance shines through in ‘It’s Been a While Since I Shook Someone’s Hand’. Near the end of the entry he mentions bias, recounting a story of a prison guard expressing his opinions on Wong’s politics. Wong completely dismisses the guard’s opinion as biased and does not even attempt to parry with him on the basis that he would not have been able to change his mind. If this was not an example of Wong’s bias, then it was an example of a poor championing of communication and understanding as a staple of democratic principles.
There are some gems in Act II like his attention to social issues, but they are far and few in between. Most of the time his ideas would only scratch the surface levels of whatever he wanted to tackle. I often got the impression he was writing in prison simply because he thought this was a rite of passage like the activists he so looks up to. Had his writing been given more thought and condensed, this large section of the book would have probably been more free of the issues I picked out, and been much more interesting to read.
Act III is one of the stronger sections of the book. However, the writing still leaves much to be desired with an absence of a dialectic, but Wong shines in this section with a much more comprehensive elaboration on his thoughts. Compared with Act II, a considerable amount of growth can be seen in his writing. I do not wish to go into debate about his ideas in this review, but I will say this section gives good points for discussion. However, issues like the one-sided understanding of the world, and fear mongering as discussed before are still prevalent.
I did not have too much of an issue with Act III in comparison with Acts I and II, nonetheless here are a few issues I decided to take note of and elaborate on a bit.
His explanation of the 2019 Extradition Bill which led to the Protests that erupted in June 2019 are greatly inadequate. Instead of focusing on the contents and context of the bill he focuses solely on assumption based implications of the bill which greatly lean towards fear mongering.
His assessment of the Chief Executive, Carrie Lam’s handling of the situation was fair. But comparing her to the fictional character Darth Vader and drawing on imagery of absolute light and dark is problematic. To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi “Only a sith deals in absolutes.”
I found his assessment on the South China Morning Post (SCMP) ironic. He calls them “pro-establishment” but many ‘pro-establishment’ enclaves in Hong Kong accuse the SCMP for bias towards the protestors. In my observation that is evidence that the SCMP is doing good journalism work as the publication can not be pinned on either side.
His example of the NBA and Blizzard Activision are not valid examples for China’s threat to Global Democracy. I understand what his message is, but to call the PRC’s actions as a direct threat to Global Democracy because of these two incidents would be categorically incorrect. If anything, it is an example of Renminbi Diplomacy (akin to Dollar Diplomacy). The NBA and Blizzard Activision are both US companies who decided to do business in China. China is not dictating them to do anything other than to work within the PRC’s parameters if they wish to do business in China.
The attempt to make clear the relationship between the geopolitical landscape and the local political landscape is finally made in this section. Leading up to Act III, Wong would often mention local issues and would fail to relate how they were concerns of Global Democracy. An attempt is made here in Act III, but it is arbitrary. The argument boils down to, ‘Hong Kong has issues because it lacks democracy, and Hong Kong lacks democracy because of a new Cold War between China and the United States. As such Hong Kong must continue to fight for democracy otherwise China will ultimately dominate Hong Kong and the World.’ I am sure Wong is onto something here, but it isn’t clear.
This section feels like it should have been published on its own as a selection of essays, but my guess is that Acts I and II were needed and written as a tool to appeal and find commonality with youth and an international audience. Hence, the terrible and oftentimes problematic analogies made with Marvel Comics, Gundams, Star Wars, and the Bible which induced an atmosphere of cringe.
Overall, I would not recommend this book. It’s boring, pretentious, and poorly thought through.
