Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council has condemned the recent arrest of 47 democracy activists in Hong Kong. That follows news that the Hong Kong police National Security Department will pursue charges of “subverting state authority” against the detainees.
Police arrested the activists in January this year for taking part in last July’s pro-democracy primaries. Authorities are accusing the activists of violating Hong Kong’s controversial new national security law. That law has drawn widespread international condemnation for stifling political dissent in the former British colony.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council wrote in a statement on Sunday that it feels deep sorrow at the battered and bruised state of Hong Kong’s democracy. The council says that repression by the Chinese Communist Party will only lead to more hostility. It says long-term stability can only come from a return to democracy and human rights.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says the arrests show that the Communist Party “cares nothing for freedom [and] individual rights, only power”. His statement on Twitter includes words of encouragement for democracy activists in Hong Kong. He writes “Friends! Hang in there. Long [and] dark is the night, but the sun always rises.”
The first hearing for the Hong Kong detainees will take place on Tuesday at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts.