China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday.
Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行：羅冠聰的香港備忘錄).
Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021.
Photo: CNA
“Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also brings about a strong driving force and could be perceived as a battle against myself,” he said, adding that the book tells of “the shared experiences of the broader people of Hong Kong over the past few years.”
“I am lucky enough to leave Hong Kong and be here with you, while many of my friends cannot leave and have no choice but to live in a prison — either the ‘big prison’ or a small prison as such,” Law said.
“Many of our partners have been put in jail for more than three-and-a-half years without a definite date of release,” he added.
“The book is dedicated to those who cannot speak up for themselves or cannot take part in our campaign,” he said, calling on Taiwan to continue to pay attention and support Hong Kongers.
Law said Taiwan is a place of significance for him, as it was the first foreign country he ever visited, when he was 18.
“I chose to promote my book in Taiwan mainly because books such as this are not allowed to be published in Hong Kong anymore. My choice reflects the collapse of freedom of publishing and speech in Hong Kong,” he said.
Taiwan is also the best choice because it is “the most democratic and free among the Chinese-speaking countries,” and “many Hong Kongers have relocated to, and reside in, Taiwan,” he said.
At a panel discussion held alongside the book launch, United Microelectronics Corp founder and former chairperson Robert Tsao (曹興誠) said he could relate to the experience described in the book, as he had been in Hong Kong joining anti-extradition bill protests on the street in 2019.
The Chinese Communist Party regime is built on violence and lies, and has no legitimacy and gravely threatens the national security of Taiwan, he said.
Although campaigning efforts made by Hong Kong democracy activists such as Law alerted Taiwanese about the peril Beijing poses to freedom, they have become desensitized to the threat over the years, Tsao said, urging Taiwanese to learn more about Hong Kong’s situation and work together to defend the nation’s freedom.
“Taiwan is on the same side as Hong Kong against the totalitarian China that has quashed Hong Kong’s civil society and voices of dissent, and threatens to take Taiwan by force,” Law said.
What happened to Hong Kong “could be a lesson for Taiwan on how China cracks down on civil society and wipes out opposition forces,” he said. “It is thus crucial for Taiwan and Hong Kong to continue exchanges and mutual support for each other.”
Writer Wang Hao (汪浩), who sought political asylum in the UK due to his support for the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests, at the panel discussion said that he could relate to the feelings of exiles who had to cut themselves off from their family, as described in the book.
Fighting against autocracy is a protracted war of resistance, but the autocratic regime would not last long as it does not resonate with human nature, while democracy with freedom does, he said.
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