Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) yesterday spoke via video chat with Hong Kong democracy advocate Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) about the state of Hong Kong under Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula.
Luo said he wanted to express his support for Hong Kong advocates, who continue to protest changes to its extradition law that would allow the Hong Kong government to extradite suspects to China to face trial there.
He also conveyed to Taiwanese politicians across party lines the message that the “one country, two systems” formula is not suitable for Taiwan, Luo said, adding that on this point, there was no room for confusion.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Wong expressed concern that 22 years after the handover of Hong Kong to Beijing, the “one country, two systems” framework has already failed and has become “one country, one system,” Luo said.
The situation has worsened since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) took office, Luo quoted Wong as saying, adding that Xi exerted increasingly greater pressure on Hong Kong.
Xi is obviously increasing the pressure on Taiwan, he said.
Many young people have been arrested in Hong Kong and charged with criminal offenses after participating in pro-democracy demonstrations, Wong was quoted as saying.
He has been jailed three times in what has been widely seen as attempts by the Hong Kong government to silence dissent, he said.
The ejection of pro-democracy lawmakers from the Hong Kong Legislative Council and shrinking protest rights are evidence that the “one country, two systems” formula has failed, he said.
The council has 70 lawmakers, of which only 35 are elected, and many of the remaining are either pro-Beijing or otherwise manipulated by China, Luo quoted Wong as saying.
He and other advocates hope for all 70 councilors to be directly elected by Hong Kongers, he said.
The territory’s chief executive, who is elected by 1,200 people, should also be chosen through popular vote by all of Hong Kong’s voting-age residents, he said.
Hong Kong has been fighting for the right to elect the chief executive through popular vote for 20 years and has not been successful, he said, adding that he and other advocates will continue to fight until Hong Kong has a democratic system, “just like Taiwan has.”
Wong is thankful for Taiwan’s attention to the issues in Hong Kong and implored Taiwan’s current and future leaders to pay attention to the state of “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong, Luo said.
“One country, two systems” cannot be practically implemented in Taiwan, he said.
Hopefully, Taiwan and Hong Kong can stand together against pressure from Beijing and fight for the protection of democracy and freedom, he said.
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