Joshua Wong 黃之鋒  😷Verified account

1/ During the latest World Health Assembly, Australia demanded an independent inquiry on the origin of Covid-19. Wary of the repercussions that might come from going against China, the EU laid low, watering down any statement and refusing to stand by its traditional ally.

2/ However, Australia did face retaliation: Beijing adopted an 80% tariff on Australian barley exports & banned 4 of its largest abattoirs. Forewarned is forearmed. When acknowledging that new cold war might soon divide the world, lovers of democracy must face a gloomy outlook.

3/ Communist China has four times the US population, and 3.5 times that of the EU, and a significantly more vigorous economic growth. If data offers a predictor of the fate of the world, it might not be a good one for those believing in the universal principles of human rights.

4/ Last Monday, 7 former UK foreign secretaries called for their country to live up to its historical responsibility, and lead an international coalition to defend HK’s “1country2systems”. A similar framework was successfully drawn up during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.

5/ The proposal goes in the right direction: can we dream of a “democratic league” to keep Chinese dragon at bay in HK, Taiwan, and throughout the world? All those who appreciate democracy & free speech might be keenly interested in working for this to become more than a dream.