Following an uneventful arrival in Taiwan on Saturday night, Hong Kong democracy campaigner Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) yesterday spoke to a group of Taiwanese students in Taipei about his involvement in the territory’s struggle for self-determination.
Wong was escorted by police at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after disembarking, and his speech was marked by a heavy police presence, although there was no protest of any kind.
Wong and three Hong Kong lawmakers, Edward Yiu (姚松炎), Nathan Law (羅冠聰) and Eddie Chu (朱凱迪), were confronted by a group of pro-unification protesters on their arrival at Taoyuan Airport on Jan. 7, with protesters attempting to break a police cordon to attack the four, who were invited to participate in forums organized by the New Power Party.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Wong said he was more confident in the Taiwanese police force’s investigation efficiency than in their Hong Kong counterparts.
Only four people were arrested for attacking Law at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday last week, while 13 people were arrested in Taiwan for attempting to attack Wong and the three pro-localization lawmakers, he said.
Wong said he had not taken any special measures to prevent more conflict with protesters and had only asked the event organizer to attend to his safety.
The event — organized by a think tank affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) — was to familiarize college students with cross-strait political and economic interactions.
Wong and DPP Department of Youth Development director Huang Shou-ta (黃守達) held a discussion about democratic development in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Wong told dozens of students how “Chinese factors” influenced Hong Kong politics and about his participation in the movement against a pro-China national education scheme in 2012, the “Umbrella movement” in 2014 and the Hong Kong legislative election last year.
“I hope Hong Kong and Taiwan, both subject to the suppression and interference of Beijing, can seek more interactions especially in terms of the political participation of young people,” Wong said.
“It is my first time speaking to a group of students and assistants to lawmakers in Taiwan. I hope I can engage people other than lawmakers and political leaders in Taiwan in the future, including college students of my own age,” he said.
Such interaction is common between democratic societies, Wong said, adding that he would continue to attend similar events.
He said his trip to Taiwan was also to familiarize young Taiwanese with the plight faced by three other Hong Kong lawmakers and himself.
The four might be deprived of their seats in the territory’s Legislative Council for altering their oaths during the swearing-in ceremony, he said, adding that their fate hinges on a court verdict expected next month.
The four could be asked to pay legal expenses of up to HK$10 million (US$1.29 million) should they be disqualified, he said.
“Taiwanese who support democracy and human rights hopefully pay attention to events in Hong Kong,” he said.
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