--- description: Hong Kong student protest leader Joshua Wong has launched a new political party calling for democratic reforms title: Hong Kong Activist Joshua Wong Launches New Party Demosistō image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4c51f070178fedd/69888e7e0a4a2218909c92dc/rtx29bd5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Hong Kong](/tag/hong-kong/) ## Hong Kong Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hong Kong Activist Joshua Wong Launches New Political Party by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2016 2:59 AM CUT  Student leaders of Occupy Central movement Joshua Wong, center, and Agnes Chow, left, attend the launching ceremony of their new political party Demosistō in Hong Kong on April 10, 2016 Student leaders of Occupy Central movement Joshua Wong, center, and Agnes Chow, left, attend the launching ceremony of their new political party Demosistō in Hong Kong on April 10, 2016Bobby Yip—Reuters by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2016 2:59 AM CUT Joshua Wong, the [Hong Kong student activist](http://time.com/3482556/hong-kong-protest-teenagers/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") who emerged as a figurehead of the city’s pro-democracy protest movement in 2014, has launched a new political party to demand further political reforms to counterbalance mainland Chinese rule. The party, which Wong inaugurated on Sunday, is called [Demosistō](https://www.facebook.com/HKdemosisto/ "undefined") — a crude portmanteau of the Greek word _demos_, which means _people_ (and is the etymological base for _democracy_), and the Latin word _sistō_, or _standing_. In a stridently worded [statement](https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B9Z7tu-U5Dy3ajlhbWstd2NUNWM&usp=sharing&tid=0B9Z7tu-U5Dy3cm55MUpzb2h5dTA "undefined") — condemning Beijing’s rule as “authoritarian” and Hong Kong’s constitution as illegitimate — Wong and his collaborators called on Hong Kongers to “regrasp ‘our’ political agenda through democratic [self-determination](http://time.com/4042269/hong-kong-self-determination-occupy-umbrella-revolution/ "undefined").” Wong told TIME on Monday morning that members of the party would run for office in Hong Kong’s forthcoming Legislative Council election, scheduled for this September. Wong himself is too young to run for elected office in Hong Kong: the minimum age of candidacy here in 21; he is 19. The launch of the party brings a new voice to an amplifying political discussion here over the matter of Hong Kong’s autonomy. The dialogue has resurged in recent months following the dubious detention of five controversial Hong Kong publishers in mainland China, which led many to fear that the constitutional dynamic known as “one country, two systems” — structured to preserve the sociopolitical spirit of China’s freest city — was floundering. Some activists are now working for Hong Kong’s outright [independence from China](http://time.com/4254190/hong-kongs-newest-conflict-with-china-is-over-independence/?iid=sr-link5 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4288070/demosisto-hong-kong-joshua-wong/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4288070/demosisto-hong-kong-joshua-wong/"},"headline":"Hong Kong Activist Joshua Wong Launches New Political Party","datePublished":"2016-04-11T02:59:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:36:47.369Z","description":"The party's launch will intensify the political debate over Hong Kong's autonomy from China","url":"https://time.com/4288070/demosisto-hong-kong-joshua-wong/","keywords":["Hong Kong","Hong Kong topic","China","Beijing","democracy","Occupy Central","Hong Kong protests","Umbrella Revolution","Joshua Wong"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4c51f070178fedd/69888e7e0a4a2218909c92dc/rtx29bd5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4c51f070178fedd/69888e7e0a4a2218909c92dc/rtx29bd5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Student leaders Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow attend the launching ceremony of their new political party Demosisto in Hong Kong","caption":"Student leaders Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow attend the launching ceremony of their new political party Demosisto in Hong Kong","creditText":"Bobby Yip—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/hong-kong/","name":"Hong Kong"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4288070/demosisto-hong-kong-joshua-wong/","name":"Hong Kong Activist Joshua Wong Launches New Political Party"}}]}] ```