Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower
2017
•
1h 18min
• Documentary
The story behind JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS. SUPERPOWER begins in 1997, when Great Britain turned over the former British colony, Hong Kong, to the Communist People's Republic of Chinese government as per a 1984 agreement. Hong Kong, an island a thousand miles off the coast of China and populated mostly by ethnically Chinese, had under the British developed into a modern, Western-type hub of world commerce, affording its people freedom of speech, assembly, religion, and thought. China had promised a one-country, two-system takeover when the British left, assuring 1.2 million Hong Kongers a hands-off political approach that would allow continued social and economic freedom for 50 years after the takeover. In 2012, they broke the promise and tried to institute a new propaganda-laced education system that students feared would "brainwash" and oppress Hong Kong's youth. Joshua Wong and other teens formed Scholarism, a group dedicated to stopping this change. The movement grew. Grownups joined. Through peaceful street protest, handing out leaflets, and taking over a major city civic center, the teens got China to back off the school takeover. Soon the Chinese reneged on another promise: Instead of allowing Hong Kong to choose its own leaders, it required those leaders be chosen from a China-approved list of candidates. Joshua and friends took to the streets again, this time with thousands of adults joining. The government responded with violence, tear gas, and arrests. The teens lost that battle but through Demosisto, a new group focusing on running candidates for local office, they promise to fight on. Student activist Nathan Law won a legislative seat as he and the group continue to fight the system from within.
