Wong Ji-yuet, one of the defendants in the pro-democracy primary election case who was released on bail, recently revealed that she has graduated from university. She wanted to state her gratitude to all the “friends” and teachers who helped her during a most challenging time.
In June 2020, Wong announced her candidacy for the democratic camp’s primary election even after she had been charged earlier with rioting. At that time, she described herself as one of those born after the handover of sovereignty in 1997 and a “witness at the onset to the demise of Hong Kong under the tyranny of the CCP.”
On Dec. 9, she posted a photo of herself in a cap and gown on her Facebook page taken in the Department of Visual Arts of Lingnan University, saying that she finally graduated.
She said that she was never a student of academic excellence and was not able to just sit still in the classroom listening to lectures and reading. Therefore, it was always difficult for her to fit into the traditional curriculum. She sometimes felt frustrated when she encountered difficulties. She said that she once took a short break during a semester because of emotional issues.
With only one semester before completing her degree, she was forced to suspend her studies again when she was arrested and imprisoned in 2021. She hoped she could finish the remaining credits while in prison, but the university said that it could not provide any assistance in that situation. It even pointed out that if she could not be released on bail within one year, she would lose her degree by default. So, she applied for bail.
Wong also said in the post that she is glad that she still has the mind to struggle during these days, gradually understands and accepts her own strengths and weaknesses, and sees possibilities during times of despair. She pointed out that she had finished one certificate course while in prison and studied with the help of her former teachers.
Remanded for Over 10 Months
Wong Ji-yuet was charged with “conspiracy to subvert state power,” along with 46 other people, for participating in the 2020 pro-democracy Legislative Council primary election. They were alleged to have conspired among themselves and with others in Hong Kong between July 1, 2020, and Jan. 7, 2021, with the aim of “subverting state power, and organizing, planning, implementing or participating in the implementation, threatening with use of force or other unlawful means.”On Dec. 21, 2021, Wong Ji-yuet, who had been in custody for more than 10 months, applied for bail in the High Court and received approval. Bail conditions included a payment of HK$50,000 (about $6,427) and HK$50,000 (about $6,427) in a personal guarantee from her husband, to live at a designated address, not directly or indirectly make, distribute or repost any speech or behavior that may be considered a breach of the national security law or endanger national security, and observe the curfew, not leave Hong Kong, surrender all travel documents, report to the police station every day, and the like.
In addition, according to the proceedings and hearing of the case in the High Court this year, Wong is one of the 30 defendants who intend to plead guilty, which means that she has a good chance of being sentenced to a jail term. In the “primary election case,” 17 defendants intend to plead not guilty. The trial is scheduled to start on Jan. 30, 2023, and is expected to take 90 days.
Served As a Former Spokesperson of Scholarism
In 2012, Prince Wong Ji-yuet, joined the social group “Scholarism” when she was only 15 and participated in the campaign against the attempted brainwashing through national education by the regime. On Sept. 26, 2014, she was arrested for participating in the “Occupy the Civic Square” operation. In the later period of the “Umbrella Movement,” she, Joshua Wong, the convener of Scholarism, and another member, Cheng Yick-lam, went on a hunger strike for 118 hours (4.5 days), causing her weight to drop to 36.8 kilogram (81 pounds).In 2015, she became the last spokesperson of Scholarism, which was disbanded in 2016. Subsequently, she established “TheEduLab” to continue promoting civic education.
Used Her Candidacy to Spread Voices of Protesters
On June 21, 2020, Wong Ji-yuet announced her candidacy for the pro-democracy Legislative Council election in the New Territories West primary election despite being charged with rioting.Wong said that she did not intend to enter politics, so she did not join any political party after Scholarism disbanded but participated in the anti-extradition movement as an unaffiliated protester. Until she was charged with rioting, she decided to move further in front when there was no other option and planned to spread the voice of the protesters by participating in the Legislative Council election.
In July 2020, Wong ranked third in the New Territories West primary election with 22,911 votes and was thus qualified for the candidacy. In an exclusive interview with the Epoch Times, she described her generation as a select group of people in the history of Hong Kong. Because they all grew up within the tremendous changes in the regime and its political environment, they hoped to seize the opportunity to strive to make Hong Kong become a democratic society.
She said that whenever she feels weak and tired, seeing people around her who are going through the same things and yet are persevering, and hearing encouragement from them, makes her feel fully charged again.
