Several civic groups are calling on Taiwan’s people to continue supporting the democracy movement in Hong Kong.
The groups held a press conference in front of the Presidential Office Tuesday. The event was timed to mark one year since protests began in Hong Kong opposing a bill that would have allowed extraditions from the territory to Mainland China. The Hong Kong government withdrew the bill last October.
The message of the slogans was clear. “Hong Kong is Hong Kongers’ Hong Kong. The demand for democracy is not yet finished! Taiwan and Hong Kong are together on June 13,” civic groups chanted, urging continued Taiwanese support for Hong Kong’s democracy movement.
Participants, including Hong Kong students studying in Taiwan, said that Hong Kong and Taiwan depend on each other.
The head of the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy, Chang Yu-meng, said the event is a condemnation of China’s ambitions to expand step by step through East Asia and around the world. He also urged Taiwan’s government to support Hong Kong and build a firewall to confront China.
Meanwhile, the convener of the Economic Democracy Union, Lai Chung-chiang, said his organization will push the government to revise rules so that the rights of Hong Kongers seeking political asylum in Taiwan receive protection.”