Activist Joshua Wong to run in Hong Kong's upcoming election

Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong on Monday announced that he will run as a candidate in Hong Kong's upcoming September Legislative Council (LegCo) elections.

The 23-year-old activist made the announcement on Twitter, saying he had received 31,398 votes in recent primary elections for the pro-Democratic camp.

"It's time for pro-democratic camp to take the majority and not to be threatened by their chilling effect," Wong said.

Wong was a member of the now disbanded political group Demosisto, who disbanded after Beijing implemented a new national security law on June 30.

Wong, who remains defiant toward the national security law and new era of risks it poses said: "Our votes are our voices during Beijing's crackdown."

The new national security law poses new challenges, he added, including the threat of disqualification, or being extradited to serve a prison sentence on the mainland.

"Among the hundred excuses to disqualify my candidacy, my name, Joshua Wong is and will always be the only reason," he said.

The pro-Democratic primary brought a record 610,000 voters to 250 polling stations across Hong Kong's 18 districts on July 11 and 12.

The goal of the "Democrat Camp 35+ Primary Election" was to gain a majority of 35 or more seats (more than half) in the September Legislative Council election, a move which would give them more power to veto pro-establishment legislation.

Meanwhile the timing of September's election hangs in the balance, w ith Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong's sole delegate to the National People's Congress Standing Committee suggesting it may be postponed due to a surge in coronavirus cases.