The National Students’ Union of Taiwan and other groups yesterday condemned the Hong Kong government, saying it has “devastated” its young people, and called for the release of four student leaders arrested in the territory for “advocating terrorism.”
Hong Kong police on Wednesday detained four members of the University of Hong Kong student union over its statement mourning the death of a man who stabbed a police officer before taking his own life on July 1.
In its July 7 statement, the union expressed “deep sadness” over the death of Leung Kin-fai (梁健輝) and gratitude for his “sacrifice for Hong Kong.”
Screen grab from the online news conference
The union later retracted the statement and issued an apology over its wording.
Union managing director Huang Ting-wei (黃亭偉) expressed the group’s “deep sadness” over the arrests, while strongly condemning the actions of the university, national security officials and police.
The Hong Kong government has long infringed on the democratic rights and freedom of its people, but its brutality has reached a fever pitch in recent years, Huang told a virtual news conference.
Now the hand of totalitarianism has extended to university campuses, crippling the younger generation, he said.
The union stands in solidarity with its Hong Kong counterparts, as this would not be the end of their troubles, Huang said, adding that the incident also serves as an urgent reminder to Taiwanese to “always remember the plight of Hong Kong.”
“Hong Kong cannot be saved; we must defend Taiwan,” Taiwan Hong Kong Association director-general Sang Pu (桑普) said.
Calling on Taiwanese not to risk traveling to China, including Hong Kong, Sang also urged the government to tighten legal loopholes.
Restrictions should be increased on immigration and “fake” investment from Hong Kong, to keep Chinese capital out of Taiwan, and to prevent infiltrators from taking advantage of policies geared toward Hong Kongers wishing to become Taiwanese, he said.
Armed police stormed onto a university campus to persecute and stigmatize dissidents while hiding behind the “rule of law,” Academia Sinica Institute of Taiwan History associate research fellow Wu Rwei-ren (吳叡人) said.
At the beginning of Chinese Communist Party rule in China, nearly 1 million people were killed, and the upper classes were wantonly purged, Wu said.
The party is cracking down on Hong Kong by using national security as an excuse to thoroughly eradicate freedom, democracy and local power, he added.
In its purge, it is not hesitating to strike down younger generations, which would inevitably result in a “long night” for Hong Kong that could last 100 years, Wu said.
The news conference was held to encourage Hong Kongers not to lose hope, as others are standing with them in solidarity, Wu said, adding that democracies worldwide must unite to pressure Beijing into giving up its tyranny over Hong Kong.
As this was not the first atrocity committed under University of Hong Kong president Zhang Xiang (張翔), Wu also called on Academia Sinica to revoke Zhang’s membership, otherwise academics would have a “very warm welcome” for him at next year’s conference, he said.
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