Tale of activism beaming live to Bendigo

WHAT does it mean to be free?

That’s the question Hong Kong’s youngest lawmaker and activist Nathan Law asks in his new book Freedom: How We Lose It and How We Fight Back, written in exile in London.

He will share his story via video at the Bendigo Bank Theatre at the Bendigo Writers Festival on Saturday, 14 May.

Law helped lead the Umbrella Movement democracy protests in 2014, which demanded more transparent elections in Hong Kong, as a student.

He was elected to the Hong Kong legislative council in 2016 before being disqualified by a court-ordered intervention from Beijing, as he posed a threat to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government. He was briefly jailed in 2017 for protesting.

When China issued the National Security Law on 1 July 2020, Law exiled himself, knowing his activism could see him imprisoned.

“The civil society crumbled, our people’s freedoms are deprived, and for me, I’m a voice on a national level continuing to be a voice for Hong Kong people and raise awareness on what’s happening there,” he said.

Law wrote Freedom shortly after arriving in London, providing an insight to the protests and seeking to remind readers how precious freedom is.

In the book, Law tells his story, with his personal experience reflects the his take on the erosion of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong, from leading protests and being elected to parliament, to being unseated, jailed and forced into exile.

“I really hoped to lay out the Hong Kong story and my own personal story to remind everyone, please don’t take freedom and democracy for granted,” he said.

“These are hard fought fruits from the previous people who committed themselves, and they’re extremely fragile if we’re not determined to protect them.

“I hope my book can act as a reminder about how precious freedom is around the world and how important for us to stand up for the values we treasure and to be aware of the aggression from dictators like Xi Jinping and Putin.”

Tickets to Nathan Law’s event are available at bit.ly/3DgmZzh.