Ivan Choi (蔡智豪) was forced into exile after taking an active role on the front lines of Hong Kong’s 2019 mass protests, later known as the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement.
On July 1 that year, during the storming of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Complex, Choi’s face was captured by media cameras, putting him at serious risk of police identification. Just days later, on July 6, he hastily boarded a flight to Taiwan with little preparation. His initial plan was simply to “lay low for a while” and receive treatment for a leg injury sustained from a bean bag round during the protests.
“Soon after I arrived in Taiwan, I realized just how real the risk was,” Choi said in a media interview in June, recalling that Hong Kong police had searched his family home not long after he left the city. “That’s when I knew there was no going back.”
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
While Taiwan offered Choi a safe haven, he quickly discovered that the path to citizenship was anything but straightforward. As more Hong Kongers fled under similar circumstances, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council in mid-2020 announced a humanitarian aid program under Article 18 of the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例).
The article stipulates that “necessary assistance shall be provided to Hong Kong or Macau residents whose safety and liberty are immediately threatened for political reasons.”
Choi was among the earliest applicants, receiving approval in early 2020 — months before the program’s official launch — and was granted a resident certificate.
Choi recalled that at the time, he and others had no idea how long the wait would be, where it might lead or even “what process we needed to follow to obtain a Taiwanese ID card.”
During this uncertain period, he immersed himself in life in Taiwan, enrolling at a university in Chiayi County and working at a human rights non-governmental organization. Over time, he became a familiar figure in Taiwan’s activist circles, taking part in the annual march commemorating the 228 Incident and in protests against Beijing’s growing influence.
“I gradually came to understand Taiwan’s local history, especially its past under authoritarian rule,” he said.
Drawing comparisons between Taiwan’s White Terror era and Hong Kong today, Choi said there are striking similarities, such as shuttered media outlets and the persecution of dissent.
“Even if the actors are different, the face of authoritarianism remains the same,” he added.
In January, after five years in the humanitarian aid program, the 26-year-old applied for permanent residency — an intermediate status that enables foreign nationals to seek household registration and obtain Taiwanese citizenship.
On June 19, he received his Taiwanese ID card — something Choi said has so far been issued to only three Hong Kong activists under the program.
However, Taiwanese authorities have never disclosed details about the review process or the number of Hong Kongers who have successfully obtained citizenship, so Choi’s number could not be confirmed.
Choi said he was told to keep details of the program “as confidential as possible.”
Still, what is clear is that, unlike countries such as Canada and the UK, which have established asylum systems, Taiwan’s lack of a formal mechanism has prompted many Hong Kongers to seek resettlement elsewhere.
Choi declined to give an exact figure, but estimated that more than half of the Hong Kong protesters he knows who initially came to Taiwan have already left.
Asked whether he had considered seeking asylum elsewhere, Choi said, “I truly never thought about leaving from the very beginning,” mainly because of his affection for Taiwan and that he was among the first to receive assistance from the Taiwanese government.
“When someone is willing to offer a helping hand, but you choose not to trust them, isn’t that almost like mocking the Taiwanese government?” he said.
Another factor behind Choi’s decision to remain in Taiwan was his view of the country as “the frontline in resisting the Chinese Communist Party [CCP].”
“I didn’t want to run a second time from the same enemy,” he said.
Now a Taiwanese citizen, Choi is required to complete four months of compulsory military training under Taiwan’s conscription system. He said he planned to enlist as a voluntary soldier once training began, seeing military service as “the most direct way to resist the CCP and defend the country.”
Following a medical examination last month, Choi said earlier this month that he was expected to report for his four-month training by the end of this year.
However, he also learned that under the law stipulates that people originally from Hong Kong must maintain household registration in Taiwan for more than 20 years before they are eligible to become volunteer enlisted soldiers.
Although disappointed, Choi said he intends to pursue the opportunity regardless.
“Why not open the door to Hong Kongers, who truly cherish freedom and have experienced firsthand how precious it is, to stand together in the fight to defend Taiwan?” he said.
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