We should not let Hong Kong fade away. We should not let Joshua Wong fade away. Or Jimmy Lai, or others. For a few years—2019 and 2020 in particular—the eyes of the world were on Hong Kong. It was probably the chief battleground in the perpetual war between freedom and tyranny. The Chinese Communist Party was determined to make Hong Kong a city like any other in China—unfree, totalitarian. Millions of Hong Kongers were determined to keep the freedom they had enjoyed. The CCP has won, at least for now. As Perry Link remarked, we saw a great city “murdered before our eyes.”

Jimmy Lai is probably the best-known political prisoner in Hong Kong. The 78-year-old businessman and democracy champion has been in prison since December 2020. Also well-known is Joshua Wong, age 29. He has been in prison for a month longer than Jimmy Lai. Both would be quick to tell you that there are other political prisoners who deserve all the admiration and help we can muster.

Wong was due to be released in January 2027, after six years and two months, but he has now been charged again and faces another sentence—which could be life. He was charged with encouraging Western governments to impose sanctions on human-rights abusers in Hong Kong and back the city’s democracy movement. In court, Wong did not dispute the charge. He pleaded guilty. About 40 of Wong’s supporters were present in the courtroom, and some called out, “Hang in there, Joshua!”

He was born on October 13, 1996. In May 2011, when he was just 14, he co-founded a group called Scholarism. In April 2016, he co-founded a political party, Demosistō. One of his co-founders was Nathan Law, who was able to leave Hong Kong in the summer of 2020. On June 30 of that year, the National Security Law went into effect. Nathan Law found asylum in Great Britain. Joshua Wong was at the forefront of democracy protests in Hong Kong for the better part of a decade. Upon being sentenced in 2017, he said, “You can lock up our bodies, but not our minds!”