Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates and budding politicians have flocked to Taiwan this week to observe its elections.
One delegation of about 50, including a batch of young Hong Kong district councilors who stormed to a landslide electoral victory in November last year, has been networking with key civil leaders, academics and officials.
“We want to learn and gain more experience, to help Hong Kong people as they struggle on their democratic road in the future,” said Raymond Tang (鄧威文), a district councilor who attended an evening seminar in Taipei with fellow delegates on countering fake news.
Photo: CNA
The links between the two places have never been deeper: Hong Kong has been convulsed by more than seven months of anti-China protests and Taiwan’s elections come amid heightened fears of an increasingly assertive China under President Xi Jinping (習近平).
“There’s an acute sense of threat from China. What’s happened in Hong Kong has made everyone reassess its relationship with Beijing,” said Joseph Cheng (鄭宇碩), a veteran pro-democracy advocate and one of the delegation leaders.
“Democracy has taken root in Taiwan and it refutes the basic argument that democracy is for the West, that it doesn’t apply to Chinese people, which is the argument propagated by Beijing,” he added.
In a Facebook video posted late on Thursday, 15 district councilors from Hong Kong, urged Taiwanese to treasure their unfettered democracy and to vote today.
“This time it’s over to you,” they said in a montage. “Hong Kong and Taiwan, let’s go for it together.”
Taiwan has become home to a small, but growing number of Hong Kong protesters who have fled the territory fearing politically motivated charges against them.
About 6,200 immigrants from Hong Kong and Macau are eligible to vote in Taiwan.
Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), a Hong Kong bookseller once abducted by Chinese agents, is trying to rebuild his life in Taiwan opening a new bookstore, set to open in March.
Lam said he is optimistic because of the burgeoning intellectual and political ties between Taiwan and his home.
“What we’re seeing in Taiwan is a country facing a military threat and economic encroachments from China. This is not a good combination and it perpetuates uncertainty,” he said, standing in an empty store space that he plans to fill with thousands of books focused on politics in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
“I hope my bookshop can make a little difference, to influence Taiwan, and raise their awareness,” Lam added.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS