Visiting Fellow Nathan Law

Nathan Law is a Hong Kong activist, currently in exile and based in London. During the Umbrella Movement in 2014, he was one of five representatives who took part in dialogue with the government, debating political reform. In 2016, Law, Joshua Wong, and other student leaders founded Demosistō, a pro-democracy political party, and ran for the Legislative Council election, where Law was elected as the youngest legislative councilor in history. However, his seat was overturned in July 2017 following Beijing’s constitutional reinterpretation, and Law was later jailed for his participation in the Umbrella Movement. This persecution sparked global concern over Beijing’s crackdown on human rights and democratic movement in Hong Kong. In 2018, Law was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside fellow student activists Joshua Wong and Alex Chow. Due to the risk imposed by the draconian National Security Law, he left Hong Kong, and continues to speak up for the people of Hong Kong at the international level. In 2020, he was listed as one of TIME’s “Time100 Most Influential”, and in March 2021, he was named a Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics. In December 2021, Law was invited as the only speaker from Hong Kong at the “Summit for Democracy” hosted by the Biden administration.