Coming to America: Hong Kong democracy trio to address forum on Occupy movement
Joshua Wong, Martin Lee and Benny Tai to focus on Occupy movement
Democracy activists Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Martin Lee Chu-ming and Benny Tai Yiu-ting confirmed they will visit the United States later this month to address a forum on democracy in Hong Kong.
Tai, who co-founded the Occupy Central campaign, said they had been invited to speak at a reception to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Freedom House, a US-based social concern group that studies human rights and democratic governance around the world.
The event will take place in Washington on September 24 - four days before the first anniversary of the start of the Occupy protests in Hong Kong last year.
Referring to the 79-day civil disobedience movement, Scholarism convenor Wong said: "I will go there to talk about the umbrella movement and how the Hong Kong democratic movement should move on … But my itinerary and the dates are not confirmed yet."
Tai said he was working on his speech for the occasion. Lee, founding chairman of the Democratic Party, said he was also preparing his speech, which would touch on the "umbrella movement". Freedom House could not be reached for comment.
It was unclear whether the trio would meet any members of the US Congress.
Freedom House, which has offices in the US capital and New York, is regularly cited for its annual "Freedom in the World" report.
In its April report, it said increased violence against journalists and cyberattacks on news websites had led to a further decline in Hong Kong's press freedom rating. It ranked the city 83rd in press freedom among countries and territories worldwide, down from last year's 74th place and 71st in 2013.
Dialogue between Hong Kong activists and politicians and their foreign counterparts has been described by pro-Beijing newspapers and lawmakers as "inappropriate and unwise".
In May, Civic Party chairwoman Audrey Eu Yuet-mee and Wong addressed a Canadian parliamentary panel via teleconferencing about democratic development in the city. Executive Council member Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun said the pair were "unwise" because foreign powers had no role to play in Hong Kong's affairs.
Weeks later, Wong missed four seminars in Malaysia after he was denied entry to the country, with Malaysia's police chief saying they did not want him to jeopardise their ties with China.
