Hong Kong student activists charged over anti-China protest

Hong Kong

Hong Kong student leader Joshua Wong and another prominent young pro-democracy activist were charged today over an anti-China protest last year, in what they said was a witch hunt against political campaigners in the city.

Wong, 18, the teenage face of the city's pro-democracy movement, and Nathan Law, 22, leader of the major university student union, accused the authorities of rounding up activists after a contentious Beijing-backed reform package was vetoed last month.

The rejection of the government's bill was an unprecedented rebuke to Beijing and left the city politically polarised.

The charges against Wong and Law date back to a small peaceful protest in June last year, before large-scale pro-democracy rallies brought parts of the city to a standstill.

They were among dozens who gathered outside Beijing's representative office in Hong Kong to oppose a "white paper" from China that asserted its control over the semi-autonomous city and a reproduction of the document was burned.

Wong emerged from a Hong Kong police station after more than three hours and said he had been charged with two counts of obstructing police officers. 

"It's political persecution... It's mystifying that I am to be charged for being part of a legal protest," Wong said.