Hong Kong’s Boat People The Chinese Coast Guard intercepts a dozen fleeing to Taiwan.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kongs-boat-people-11599001124?mod=opinion_lead_pos2
Hong Kong once was a refuge for Vietnamese and mainland Chinese who fled their homeland on boats in pursuit of freedom. Now Hong Kongers are fleeing their own city in the same way, and not all of them make it to safety.
The Chinese Coast Guard last week intercepted a boat carrying a dozen Hong Kongers, who ranged in age from 16 to 33, trying to sail to Taiwan. Some of the boat people faced serious charges related to pro-democracy activism or their role in last year’s protests.
At least one, democracy supporter Andy Li, was arrested in August under the new national-security law and faces up to life in prison if convicted. Hong Kong has long prided itself on an independent judiciary, but the accused understandably fear that the Communist Party will dictate from now on what happens in the Hong Kong courts as it does in China.
The Chinese Coast Guard arrested the 12 for unlawfully crossing the border. Little is known about their fate, except that they are detained in the mainland. On Monday the state-run China Daily wrote in an English-language editorial that “Hong Kong lawbreakers should give up the illusion of evading justice by seeking shelter on the island [of Taiwan] or elsewhere.” Beijing may want to make a chilling example of these unlucky fugitives.
Many in Hong Kong fear this is a harbinger of what’s to come as the Chinese Communist Party tightens its grip on the city. Taiwan recently opened an office to help Hong Kong refugees “whose safety and liberty are immediately threatened for political reasons,” and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged a pathway to citizenship for millions of residents of Britain’s former colony. Immigration attorneys, overseas real-estate salesmen and relocation companies say they’ve seen a surge in interest by Hong Kongers seeking to leave.
China Daily slammed Taiwanese leaders for having “openly encouraged lawbreakers in Hong Kong to evade the consequences of their actions,” and this summer Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China may not recognize “as valid travel documents” the British National Overseas passports granted to Hong Kongers. Last week’s Hong Kong boat people are among the first to risk their lives to escape, but they won’t be the last.
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