Three of the most high-profile pro-democracy campaigners are among those who were held

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Joshua Wong

Joshua Wong was a key student leader during pro-democracy protests in 2014 that paralysed parts of Hong Kong for 70 days in what came to be known as the “umbrella movement”.

He became the face of Hong Kong’s democracy movement and was imprisoned for two months for his involvement in those protests.

He was released from prison on 17 June, four days before the protests in Hong Kong in which demonstrators surrounded police headquarters. He was charged on Friday over his involvement.

Wong, 22, is the co-founder of the political group Demosistō. Netflix made a documentary about him titled Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower.

He was charged on Friday with offences including organising an unlawful assembly and released.

Play Video 0:45 'President Xi, we will not keep silent': Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong released from jail – video

Agnes Chow

Agnes Chow is, like Wong, a former student leader of the umbrella movement in 2014.

She belongs to the political organisation Demosistō, and was arrested on Monday morning on suspicion of “inciting others to participate in an unauthorised assembly” as well as “knowingly participating in an unauthorised assembly” during protests outside police headquarters on 21 June.

Chow, 22, was blocked from running for political office in Hong Kong in 2018 because of her party’s pro-democracy manifesto.

Chow renounced her British citizenship – a requirement to stand for election – and postponed her studies to run for office, but views neither as a sacrifice.

“Many people may see this as a sacrifice, but it’s not for me,” she said. “I’m committed to fighting for Hong Kong and it’s nothing compared to those who have gone to prison.”

She told the Guardian last year that she had grown up in an apolitical household where social issues were never mentioned. But when she was 15, she came across a Facebook post showing thousands of young people agitating for change – secondary school students just like her – and never looked back.

Chow joined demonstrations against government plans to introduce “moral and national education” in 2012 – criticised by opponents as communist brainwashing – and it was there she met Joshua Wong.

Chow recently travelled to Tokyo, where she urged the Japanese government to help put pressure on the Hong Kong authorities to withdraw the controversial extradition bill.

Speaking in Japanese at the Japan National Press Club during her visit in June, Chow called on Tokyo to “pay more attention to this dangerous bill”, warning that it was not only Hong Kong residents who would be affected but also overseas visitors.

Such visitors could find themselves being extradited to mainland China, which she described as “a place without the rule of law, without protection of human rights and freedom”.

She was charged with offences including taking part in an unlawful assembly and released.

Andy Chan

Andy Chan, the head of the Hong Kong National party, came to international attention in September last year when his party was banned by the city’s security bureau for calling for independence for Hong Kong from mainland China.

The bureau said the party was a threat to national security and the ban marked the first case of its kind since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

The ban forced Chan to withdraw from public appearances but not before he spoke at a widely attended event at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club.

Several weeks later, the immigration department declined to extend the visa of the event moderator, Victor Mallet, a journalist with the Financial Times.

Additional reporting by Daniel Hurst in Tokyo