People
Come rain or shine
Nathan Law
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARIA-INES GUL
“I always carry a sense of guilt, a survivor’s guilt, that I was able to leave Hong Kong while they couldn’t.” Exiled from his home city and forced to completely cut off contact with his family, pro-democracy activist Nathan Law is carrying the torch for friends left behind: Joshua Wong, Jimmy Lai, Benny Tai, Lester Shum and hundreds more in jail in Hong Kong.
Recent developments suggest Law’s worst fears are coming true—the region is sliding further into authoritarianism, as journalists are arrested and pro-democracy news outlets close. While another batch of pro-Beijing lawmakers was sworn into Hong Kong’s legislative council in January, Hong Kongers in London, Bristol and Manchester were congregating to express solidarity with journalists. As well as spreading the message, Law says such rallies are “also for us—for the diasporic community that we have, so that we can remind ourselves that we continue to fight for freedom, fight for our home city.”