After fleeing to Taiwan from the frontlines of the Hong Kong protests, Ben suffered a recurrent nightmare for months: he dreamed his fellow protesters were being tortured by police, but he couldn’t help.
Ten months on from seeking refuge in Taiwan, his feeling of helplessness has eased and his fighting spirit has returned. He is among dozens of former Hongkongers who are finding ways to resist Beijing from Taiwan.
Since October, Taiwan has quietly allowed dozens of protesters to stay on the island, and it is now offering support for Hongkongers to move to there when Beijing imposes the new national security law. Beijing says the law against subversion is necessary to deal with widespread anti-government unrest in Hong Kong, but critics say it is the final nail in the coffin of the former British colony’s disappearing freedoms.
“The protesters can no longer help Hong Kong, so what we can do is put our power overseas,” said Ben, who declined to use his real name because he fears being prosecuted in Hong Kong for his role in the protests.
Earlier this month, he helped to organise a demonstration in the Taipei shopping district of Ximending.
“We know we are dying but we hope that China can get the same punishment. We want what is happening to us to happen to China,” the 21-year-old said. “We want all the world to think ‘do we want to do business with a country which treats the people so bad’.”
Young protesters started fleeing to Taiwan in July last year following the storming of the Legislative Council building and intensifying crackdowns by police. With no way to stay permanently, many went back, but activists estimate at least 200 protesters are still in Taiwan. Authorities have discreetly allowed them to stay in the short term by extending tourist visas and encouraging them to enrol in university courses to gain student visas.
Some protesters and other Hongkongers help to send masks, helmets and other supplies to protesters back home. At the Chi-nan Presbyterian church next to Taiwan’s parliament, Hongkongers and Taiwanese donate food and drinks that are passed on to the protesters living in Taiwan. While protesters say they miss home, they don’t see any way they can go back in the short term, and often have to cope with disapproval from their parents for their role in the protests.
In March, Ben started classes at a university to help Hong Kong students transfer to a course in Taiwan. Later this year he plans to study politics in Taiwan.
“If in the future I can go back to Hong Kong I hope I can use all my knowledge to help Hong Kong,” he said.
President Tsai Ing-wen in May became the first government leader to pledge to help Hongkongers wanting to leave following the national security law announcement.
The government’s Mainland Affairs Council, which handles cross-strait affairs, said last week that it will set up a dedicated office in Taipei from 1 July to help Hong Kong citizens gain residency and businesses and NGOs to move to Taiwan. On Wednesday, Taiwan said it would ease border restrictions to allow people from Hong Kong in on humanitarian grounds, ahead of the opening of the office.
Taiwan presidential office spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said: “Taiwan strongly condemns China for hurting democracy and human rights in Hong Kong, and will keep helping Hong Kongers providing practical support and assistance based on our laws.”
The office will offer financial assistance to those who come to Taiwan for political reasons, but officials emphasised that this is not a refugee programme and Hongkongers still have to enter Taiwan legally.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own and vows it will be brought under control by force if necessary. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the plan showed Tsai’s government wanted to meddle in Hong Kong’s affairs. Giving shelter to “the rioters and elements who bring chaos to Hong Kong will only continue to bring harm to Taiwan’s people,” it said.
Another young protester, who says she came to Taiwan in January after 10 of her fellow protesters were detained by police within 24 hours, spends much of her days countering Chinese disinformation online. She says she posts responses to what she calls “fake news” smearing the Hong Kong protest movement on sites including Reddit and Twitter.
“I want people to understand you are not just helping Hong Kong, you are helping fight a tyrant who can be a threat to the free world,” said the 25-year-old.
Kwok Yu Him, a radio journalist and Hongkonger who has made his home in Taiwan says he can better resist from outside China, by linking up protesters and activists in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“In my job I always interview people who cannot go back to China,” he said. “I never thought I would join them, I cannot go back to Hong Kong now.”
“I believe as one of the Hong Kongese who still remembers when Hong Kong was still an international city, to pass on those memories is one of my main tasks now.”