A new magazine in support of Hong Kong’s struggle for democracy is reaching out to the diaspora and those still living in the territory, offering unvarnished commentary from Taiwan, where it is published.
Taiwan has emerged as a place of refuge for some Hong Kongers after China’s enforcement last year of a new National Security Law in Hong Kong.
The Chinese-language quarterly magazine is called Flow HK, while its name in Chinese is Ru Shui (如水), or “be water,” after a tactic protesters used to evade Hong Kong police and inspired by a maxim of Chinese martial arts actor Bruce Lee (李小龍) that encourages a person to be flexible or formless.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The magazine’s first issue was published in January.
The magazine’s editor-in-chief is exiled rights advocate Sunny Cheung (張崑陽), and its editorial board includes other well-known campaigners.
Chiang Min-yen (江旻諺), a Taiwanese who works from the magazine’s small Taipei office and also sits on the editorial board, said that the publication wanted to provide a forum for discussion, and how to continue the fight for freedom and democracy.
“People are thinking about what’s next for Hong Kong and what can Hong Kongers do — how can people support Hong Kong and oppose the authoritarianism of the Chinese Communist Party,” Chiang said.
The magazine encourages Hong Kong subscribers to get the electronic version due to security concerns about police potentially finding a physical copy in people’s homes.
Hong Kong authorities maintain that freedom of speech and that of the media are intact, but say national security is a red line.
The National Security Law punishes anything that China considers subversion, secessionism, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.
In his piece for the inaugural edition, Cheung urges people not to give up, saying that the resistance movement is like a buried stream of fire ready to become a river.
“Overseas Hong Kongers must fight, and will not give up on their dream to go home. If you are not free in Hong Kong, then what is the use of freedom?” he wrote.
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