Hong Kong Taiwan Solidarity Grows Across the World

Since protests began in Hong Kong in June, Hong Kongers have shown remarkable resilience in the face of violence as the city continues to mobilize for 17 consecutive weekends.

Though for the most part only those in Taiwan and Hong Kong have paid attention to the protests, many abroad, Hong Kongers or not, have mobilized to raise awareness in cities like New York and Washington, DC.

Studying in the US as a Taiwanese international student, I witnessed how attitudes towards the protests over the past months as I traveled between Taiwan and the US. I began covering the topic in different locations of the world after the protests have spread abroad in the form of rallies and the posting of Lennon Walls. I was especially by how often Taiwanese volunteers showed up in solidarity to help Hong Kongers.

June: mutual attention, but little action

The first rounds of rallies in DC happened in June. On June 16th, the DC Hong Kongers community arranged their second rally in DC. Rallying in front of the Victim of Communism memorial, there was some dozen and a handful of protesters who showed up to chant slogans. At first, it was not exactly a heartening sight. Though the protesters called for the rally to protest the anti-extradition bill that was at the center of the protest in Hong Kong, by then the HK government had already announced to freeze the bill. The protesters instead called for the resignation of Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

Many Hong Kongers were cautious to show up to these events because they are worried about potential impacts on jobs and families, I learned from a reporter present at the rally.

The small numbers stood in stark contrast to the two million people who turned up in Hong Kong the same day for protest. There were some Taiwanese present to see what happened, but their number, combined with journalists were no more than the number of protesters.

Later in June, I learned from Michelle Wu, a Taiwanese activist affiliated with the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy (TYAD) that many Taiwanese were actively watching the protests in Hong Kong. Taiwanese activists are wary, she told me, because many could be affected by an extradition bill for protesting against Chinese influence in Taiwan.

At the Victims of Communism Memorial (courtesy of Milo Hsieh)

Role of social media

As the protests continue, it was surprising to see how persistent the protesters were as the government continues to stall. Though the official narratives given by the government of China, Hong Kong, and state media was that protesters have turned violent, it appeared clearly that it was the Hong Kong police force that used excessive force and violence to suppress dissidents.

Though physically removed from the conflict, I was able to witness events as they unfold over social media. Every Saturday, Facebook prepares clips of cases such as white-shirted gangsters attacking protesters with no repercussions from the Hong Kong police, protesters losing an eye from a shot fired by the police, and protesters being shot en-masse by rubber bullets while attempting to run into a subway stop, which the police fired tear gas into.

Facebook’s algorithms worked to show me these clips even when I did not want to see them.  Though most of these clips are difficult to verify as authentic or true, the sheer number of the clips and media reports often piece the events together themselves and show the biases of different parties.

Interestingly, the number of Hong Kong-related clips fed into one’s feed seems to be correlated with how much he or she cared about politics. American friends have complained that coverage on the issue on local press have basically disappeared after the second weekend in the series of protests. Many around me who are uninterested in news are completely unaware of the violence occurring twelve time zones away and how it could impact their lives.

July and August: Growing cooperation

In July, more and more Hong Kongers began rallying abroad to put up “Lennon Walls,” cardboard walls with post-it notes and infographics on police violence posted on them. On July 20, Hong Kongers rallied in Washington Square in New York City and put up these walls. Around this time, protesters began calling for the government to accept the “five demands:” to withdraw the extradition bill, drop legal charges against protesters, cease defining protests as “riots,” investigate police brutality, and establish a fair, universal election system. The color Yellow also made some appearances as a symbol of revolution, perhaps referencing its use in the series of persistent protests in Paris and past use in the Hong Kong.

In Taiwan, more and more signs of solidarity between Hong Kongers and Taiwanese began showing up in August.

On August 18, several rallies were held major cities of Taiwan. I visited the rally in Taoyuan, my birth city, and saw that the local community aid organization had put up a Lennon Wall and co-hosted a supply drive to send gas masks and other equipment to protesters in Hong Kong.

In Taoyuan (courtesy of Milo Hsieh)

Hong Kongers in Taiwan seemed to be even more wary of potential impacts to their life due to their participation. I was surprised when I approached a Hong Konger volunteer to record some quotes for a report on this event, and was asked to prove that I am a journalist.

Many Taiwanese showed up to the event, including a local politician from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The protest seemed to have played into the hand of the ruling DPP, a skeptic of ties with China. The protests showed directly how rule under China has taken a toll on economic life, especially on young people. This ran in contradiction to the message of the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which promoted that Taiwan would better prosper if it further integrates economically and politically with China.

During my travel back to DC, I stopped by another Lennon Wall in New York City’s Chinatown. At the time of my visit, I was interested in seeing whether how the wall looked like after unidentified pro-Beijing assailants vandalized the wall. 

I stopped by just in time to see that volunteers were working to restore the wall. One of the masked volunteers who were repairing the wall told me that he was from Danshui, Taiwan, where I grew up. Though the wall was reportedly vandalized again just four days after my visit, it was nevertheless a touching experience seeing that many Taiwanese began standing with Hong Kongers to promote their cause.

In New York (courtesy of Milo Hsieh)

September: blooming solidarity

Going into September, Taiwanese communities everywhere seemed to be ever more aware of the Hong Kong protests as it continues into the third month. On September 28th, Hong Kongers rallied in Washington, DC as a part of a global movement against China’s authoritarianism. Nathan Law, one of the youngest Legislative Councilor elected in Hong Kong, gave a speech calling for solidarity in front of a crowd of a few hundred people.

The crowd of this protest was significantly more active and seemed more cheerful compared to the crowd that showed up to the June rally. When the organizers of the rally began singing “Glory to Hong Kong,” those who could speak Cantonese also joined in to sing the song in solidarity.

Many Taiwanese Media’s DC correspondents were present to report the news to a Mandarin-speaking audience. A few Taiwanese in the area brought a flag of Taiwan to show solidarity. Though the flag formally is a symbol of the Republic of China, its presence nevertheless showed represented the care of many Taiwanese for Hong Kong’s democracy.

“As Nelson Mandela said, ‘your freedom and my freedom cannot be separated.’ Hong Kong and Taiwan are facing similar threats so it is obligated for us to stand with Hong Kong. We understand that the struggle might be our lives. We will continue fighting for freedom until the end of our days. We are all in this together,” Elaine Tsao, a DC-Based Taiwanese policy professional, said in response to the rally.

Twelve time zones away, over a hundred thousand showed up to a rally for the same cause twelve hours later in Taipei. The Taipei rally was not as peaceful as the one in DC; Denise Ho, a Hong Konger singer turned activist, was assaulted by a splatter of red paint during her appearance at that protest.

“From the perspective of a Taiwanese, I would say that Americans should recognize how the expansion of China’s authoritarianism is now suppressing the development of Taiwan and Hong Kong’s democracy and liberty. The international community should be wary of this; if China can pressure Taiwan and Hong Kong today, it would be able to do the same to surrounding countries in the future,” Michelle Wu, who was also an organizer of the Taipei rally, told me after her participation in the rally.

Many Taiwanese themselves experienced how authoritarianism, living under a police state, and going out to the streets to protest against injustice felt like. As protests continue in Hong Kong, it seemed that many Taiwanese are now well aware of the shared threat posed by China’s growing influence.

Going into October, events in Hong Kong continue to affect politics in Taiwan. That the Hong Kong government seems to care little to hold back police violence or maintain public trust draws an eerie reminder to the Taiwanese of how politics was like decades ago.

“If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold” goes an Chinese proverb in describing how the survival of the two sides are linked. In 2019, it seems that the democratic values of Taiwan and Hong Kong are as interdependent as it could be.

Protests in Hong Kong continues with no end in sight, and it befalls upon the many eyes around the world to make the repressed heard.

(Feature photo courtesy of Milo Hsieh)