The Hong Kong government in February proposed the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Bill governing a mechanism for extradition between Hong Kong and China, Taiwan and Macau, to address loopholes in extradition laws after a man from Hong Kong was accused of killing his girlfriend in Taipei.
According to an opinion poll, 66 percent of Hong Kongers opposed the amendments.
A rally against the bill organized by the pro-democracy Civil Human Rights Front on June 9 attracted more than 1 million people, the largest rally in the former British colony since it was handed back to China in 1997.
Unlike any social movement in Hong Kong in the past, the anti-extradition movement had no clear leader. The leaders of previous social movements could only stand on the sidelines of this one as it unfolded, offering their mediation and support.
The anti-extradition movement has since demonstrated Hong Kongers’ considerable opposition to Beijing and the “one country, two systems” formula.
Watching these developments, Taiwanese have seen how the Hong Kong authorities have disregarded the will of the people and met the protests with violence, with innocent people getting hurt.
Taiwanese have witnessed Beijing’s cruel machinations in the background, and seen how quickly the honeyed cloak of “one country, two systems” falls away.
The anti-extradition protests have continued since and the authorities have remained deaf to the movement’s five demands: full withdrawal of the extradition bill; an independent inquiry into police behavior; an amnesty for arrested protesters; a retraction of the classification of protesters as “rioters”; and universal suffrage in elections for the legislative council and chief executive.
Hong Kong is normally a place of freedom and the rule of law, but the response from the totalitarian communist regime has consisted of tear gas and rubber bullets, and street demonstrations have become a routine matter for young Hong Kongers.
The Hong Kong government has responded to the five demands by tacitly allowing the police to use violence.
It will be a long and difficult protest, and embattled Hong Kong needs Taiwan’s support.
Seeing Hong Kongers fight a totalitarian government is a warning to all Taiwanese, but also a call to action: We must protect our hard-won democracy and freedoms.
The movie Detention (返校) catalogues the development of Taiwanese democracy following 400 years of colonial rule. It is thanks to years of hard work by civic organizations and democracy activists that Taiwanese have obtained a national identity, planting the seed of democracy deep in the soil of beautiful Formosa.
We must empathize with neighboring Hong Kong and support Hong Kongers’ struggle for democracy by participating in a march today in Taipei in support of Hong Kong and to protest against totalitarianism.
We must all treasure Taiwan’s democratic values and work hard to protect our sovereignty. We must also work with Hong Kongers toward the same goal.
Pan Wei-yiu is secretary-general of the Northern Taiwan Society.
Translated by Paul Cooper and Perry Svensson
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