Press release: Hongkongers in Leeds launch “Free Joshua Wong” website on his 30th birthday, his sixth behind bars

DRAFT – to be checked and approved by Hongkongers in Leeds before release. Replace everything in [SQUARE BRACKETS].

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 13 October 2026

Leeds, UK – Hongkongers in Leeds (列斯手足連線) today launch a bilingual website calling for the release of Joshua Wong, the Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, who turns 30 today in prison. It is the sixth birthday in a row that he has spent behind bars.

Joshua Wong has been in custody without release since 23 November 2020. In November 2024 he was sentenced to four years and eight months in the "Hong Kong 47" national security case, for taking part in an unofficial primary election. On 2 September 2026 he pleaded guilty to a further national security charge, "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces", which carries a minimum of three years and up to life imprisonment. He awaits sentence.

The website includes:

a live detention clock, counting every day, hour, minute and second since he was taken into custody;
a timeline of his life, from co-founding the student group Scholarism at the age of 14 to the present day;
a calendar of solidarity messages. Supporters anywhere in the world pick a day and write a few words to Joshua. Each day holds one message, revealed when that day arrives, from today until the day he is released. His birthday, 13 October, can hold any number of messages.

"[QUOTE FROM A HONGKONGERS IN LEEDS SPOKESPERSON – why the group built the site, and what they ask the public and the UK government to do.]"

The site is available in Hong Kong Cantonese and English. To protect supporters, names are optional and the site collects no email addresses, IP addresses or other personal data.

Website: [WEBSITE ADDRESS]

Contact: hongkongersinleeds@gmail.com

Notes to editors

Hongkongers in Leeds (列斯手足連線) is a volunteer group of Hong Kongers living in Leeds, UK.
Joshua Wong was born in Hong Kong on 13 October 1996. He co-founded Scholarism in 2011 and the political party Demosistō in 2016, and was a leading figure of the 2014 Umbrella Movement.
[ADD: spokesperson available for interview, photographs available on request, etc.]