Well-known Hong Kong bookstore owner Lam Wing-kee says he expects to see more people from Hong Kong flee to Taiwan now that China has passed a controversial national security law governing the territory.
Lam was speaking Wednesday, the day the law took effect. Lam has been living in Taiwan for a year, having fled Hong Kong himself due to the threat of Chinese persecution.
Exiled Hong Kong bookstore owner Lam Wing-kee says that Chinese communists do whatever they want, regardless of the law. And now, with China’s passage of a national security act that strengthens its hold of Hong Kong, that arbitrary rule is no longer just confined to the Chinese Mainland.
Now that Hong Kong’s freedoms have been eroded, Lam says he expects to see more Hong Kong people follow his example and flee the territory for safety in Taiwan.
Lam isn’t the only Hong Konger in Taiwan watching events back home with concern. One Hong Kong resident living in Taiwan says she is worried for her friends and family. That’s because the new law is easy to break, even without necessarily meaning to.
Taiwan hasn’t just stood by and watched the event unfolding in Hong Kong. Earlier in the week, President Tsai Ing-wen said that the new law shows that China’s “one country, two systems” formula is not feasible. The Cabinet, for its part, has condemned the law.
And beyond these words, there has been action. On Wednesday, Taiwan opened an office that aims to help Hong Kongers seeking a new life on the other side of the strait.