The devastating fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po, Hong Kong, resulted in at least 159 deaths, with dozens still missing. The several subtle incidents that followed the tragedy revealed the top priority of the Hong Kong Government and the authorities in Beijing in responding to the disaster — maintaining the stability of the regime. The rights and interests of Hong Kong residents have been all but sidelined.
For Taiwanese, who are accustomed to democracy and freedom, this should serve as an urgent warning — especially now that some have even proposed the insidious notion of “one country, two regions.”
After the disaster, students in Hong Kong attempted to launch an online petition that outlined their demands: continued support and proper resettlement for residents impacted by the fire, the establishment of an independent investigative committee to probe possible corruption and full government accountability.
For Taiwanese, such demands are completely justified, typical of everyday democratic practice, but that is not the case in Hong Kong.
The person responsible for initiating the petition, 24-year-old Miles Kwan (關靖豐), was immediately arrested by Hong Kong’s national security police on suspicion of “sedition.” A former legislator who shared the online petition was also arrested, accused of “stirring hatred.”
Expressing demands in response to major social events is a right protected in Taiwan, but in Hong Kong, it has become a criminal act that puts one in danger of arrest and prosecution.
Do Taiwanese truly want to be ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and live such a life? If the CCP were to govern Taiwan or a “one country, two regions” framework was actually adopted, simply expressing opinions, or raising demands after major disasters or regarding large-scale energy projects could result in an arrest.
Would Taiwanese ever get used to that?
The Wang Fuk Court fire is littered with suspicious circumstances. Before even determining the cause of the incident, the Hong Kong government has moved against the public, charging people with “stirring chaos,” and accusing “anti-China forces” of “inciting social division” and “stirring hatred against authorities.”
Even a public news conference on high-rise building maintenance policies was canceled, and its organizers were forcibly summoned for questioning.
Do Taiwanese truly want to live under a “one country, two regions” system, enduring a life where they are banned from even holding a simple news conference?
By the Hong Kong government’s standards, Taiwanese could be arrested and imprisoned for such actions.
Under those circumstances, how could there be any meaningful government oversight or protection of public rights and interests?
What use would your grievances be when there is nowhere to seek justice?
One of the most precious aspects of Taiwanese society is that people have the right to speak freely about major issues as well as national small social matters. They have the right to rigorously scrutinize the government through assembly and association. Meanwhile, it has already been proven that under Chinese rule, Hong Kongers have no right to discuss public safety.
With the facts before us, would you still accept the deadly “one country, two systems” arrangement?
Chen Kuan-lin is a research manager from Taipei.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
The image was oddly quiet. No speeches, no flags, no dramatic announcements — just a Chinese cargo ship cutting through arctic ice and arriving in Britain in October. The Istanbul Bridge completed a journey that once existed only in theory, shaving weeks off traditional shipping routes. On paper, it was a story about efficiency. In strategic terms, it was about timing. Much like politics, arriving early matters. Especially when the route, the rules and the traffic are still undefined. For years, global politics has trained us to watch the loud moments: warships in the Taiwan Strait, sanctions announced at news conferences, leaders trading
The saga of Sarah Dzafce, the disgraced former Miss Finland, is far more significant than a mere beauty pageant controversy. It serves as a potent and painful contemporary lesson in global cultural ethics and the absolute necessity of racial respect. Her public career was instantly pulverized not by a lapse in judgement, but by a deliberate act of racial hostility, the flames of which swiftly encircled the globe. The offensive action was simple, yet profoundly provocative: a 15-second video in which Dzafce performed the infamous “slanted eyes” gesture — a crude, historically loaded caricature of East Asian features used in Western
Is a new foreign partner for Taiwan emerging in the Middle East? Last week, Taiwanese media reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) secretly visited Israel, a country with whom Taiwan has long shared unofficial relations but which has approached those relations cautiously. In the wake of China’s implicit but clear support for Hamas and Iran in the wake of the October 2023 assault on Israel, Jerusalem’s calculus may be changing. Both small countries facing literal existential threats, Israel and Taiwan have much to gain from closer ties. In his recent op-ed for the Washington Post, President William
A stabbing attack inside and near two busy Taipei MRT stations on Friday evening shocked the nation and made headlines in many foreign and local news media, as such indiscriminate attacks are rare in Taiwan. Four people died, including the 27-year-old suspect, and 11 people sustained injuries. At Taipei Main Station, the suspect threw smoke grenades near two exits and fatally stabbed one person who tried to stop him. He later made his way to Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store near Zhongshan MRT Station, where he threw more smoke grenades and fatally stabbed a person on a scooter by the roadside.
RSS