TAIPEI: For Lam Wing-kee, a Hk bookstore owner who had been detained by law enforcement in China just for five months intended for selling sensitive books about the Communist Party, coming to Taiwan was a logical step.
An tropical isle just 640km through Hong Kong, Taiwan is close not just geographically but also linguistically and culturally. It provided the freedoms that lots of Hong Kongers were used to and noticed disappearing in their home town.
Lam’s proceed to Taiwan in 2019, where he reopened his bookstore in Taipei, the capital, presaged a wave of emigration from Hong Kong since the former British colony came under the stronger grip of China’ s central govt and its long-ruling Communist Party.
“It’s not that Hk doesn’t have any democracy, it doesn’t have any freedom, ” Lam said in a recent interview. “When the English were ruling Hong Kong, these people didn’t give us true democracy or the power to vote, but the British gave Hong Kongers a very huge space to be free of charge. ”
Hong Kong and Chinese commanders will mark next week the 25th anniversary of its return to Cina.
At the time, some people were willing to give China a chance. Tiongkok had promised to rule the city within the “one country, two systems” framework regarding 50 years.
That meant Hong Kong would retain its legal and politics system and freedom of speech that does not exist in mainland China.
But in the ensuing years, a growing tension between your city’s Western-style liberal values and landmass China’s political program culminated in explosive protests in 2019.
In the consequences, China imposed the national security regulation that has left active supporters and workers and others living in fear of arrest for speaking out.
Hk still looked exactly the same. The malls were open, the skyscrapers were gleaming. Yet well-known artist Kacey Wong, who moved to Taiwan last year, declared that he constantly worried about his own arrest or even those of his friends, some of whom are now in jail.
“On the outside it’s still beautiful, the particular sunset at the harbour view. But it’s an illusion which makes you think you’re still free, ” this individual said. “In fact you’re not, the federal government is watching you and secretly following a person. ”
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/hong-kongers-reflect-taiwan-imperfect-exile-2767881
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