In response to the Hong Kong government’s National Security Education Day For All, many discerning Hongkongers from cities all over the world acted in solidarity with the arrested 47 democratic figures charged under the National Security Law.
Trial of the Era
The Hong Kong 47 Case is the largest Trial under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.In 2020, pro-democratic political figures and activists participated in a Legislative Council primary election in hopes of getting into the Legislative Council to get a seat in making Hong Kong policies better for the people. They were unhappy with how the Chinese and Hong Kong governments disintegrated freedom and democracy in the city.
Despite the primary being a huge success, the Hong Kong government arrested 47 people involved in the primaries, accusing them of conspiring to subvert state power. The 47 politicians include Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, and Ventus Lau Wing-hong.
They Stood In Silence
In the United Kingdom, a popular destination for Hongkongers migrating to, nine silent stations and street booths stood tall in the cities all over the country from April 15 to 16, 2023. These cities included Manchester, Reading, Sutton, and Nottingham.A UK-Hongkongers organization Reading UK Stands With Hong Kong, organized a standing-in-silence event to represent their solidarity with the 47 arrested people. About 50 people joined the event.
Attendees stood in silence, wearing white masks with posters, while others wore handcuff props to represent Hongkongers who could become the next political prisoner.
The campaign wanted to raise awareness of how the Chinese regime would do everything to eliminate or silence its political opponents.
Volunteers were nearby to give out flyers to raise awareness and speak against the regime.
Warnings to the World
The host of the Reading-Hongkongers group introduces the background of the Hong Kong 47 Case to the public. She pointed out that most defendants had been remanded for over two years without a trial.“No jury will be in the closed-door trial. The Case is heard by only judges appointed by the government for National Security Law cases. Right now, many defendants are facing the possibility of life imprisonment.”
She also criticized that the Chinese Communist Party had violated the promise of the Sino-Joint Declaration and destroyed Hong Kong’s freedom, democracy, and human rights.
The organization called on Reading residents to write to the British parliament members. It also urged the British government to follow the Trial closely and impose sanctions on the CCP and Hong Kong officials.
The host said people should boycott products made in China, as the CCP violated human rights while backing Russia to invade Ukraine.
Local Understanding Rising
Professor Chung, a former assistant professor in the Department of Applied Social Sciences of the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong and former deputy chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI), was also present to volunteer and distribute leaflets to introduce the Hong Kong 47 Trial to the Reading community.When speaking with The Epoch Times, Chung affirmed that many middle-aged or older people in the area have a fundamental knowledge of the decaying political situation in Hong Kong. “Even if they don’t know about the primary election with how Hong Kong has transitioned to the worse in the past few years. They also sampled the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian power.”
Keeping the Fire Lit
One of the things Professor Chung reminded overseas Hongkongers was not to give up on Hong Kong, and they should continue to do what they can to spread awareness instead of abandoning Hong Kong.Online Remarks Led to a Sudent’s Arrest
On another note, a Hong Kong student who was studying in Japan at the time got arrested on her return to Hong Kong by the National Security Police for inciting subversion. She was accused of initiating the so-called “Hong Kong independence.”Professor Chung confessed that the arrest deterred overseas Hongkongers from participating in social events since it created enough scruples for them to keep quiet.
In addition, many people planned on returning to Hong Kong to visit their loved ones. Hence the hesitance to speak aloud.
Demonstration in London
Meanwhile, Sutton Hong Kong Culture and Arts Society and Kingston Hongkongers held their silent stand supporting the arrested democratic figures in Trinity Square, near Tower Bridge, London.Paul Scully, a member of the British Conservative Party, was also present for support. Scully said it saddened him that Hong Kong changed from a free city to a place full of oppression. He said he and other members of the Parliament would support the Hong Kong people and bring their voices to the Parliament.
When Sutton Hong Kong Culture and Arts Society spoke to The Epoch Times, the group explained how unjust the arrest of the primary election participants was. The defendants would likely spend the rest of their lives in jail.
The group also collected over 200 signatures for the letter to the MPs, hoping the UK government would follow the Trial.
Among those who signed the letter to speak and vote overseas, about 30 percent were non-Hongkongers.
In addition, the Sutton-Hongkongers Society also attended social events and hoped that they can soon register as voters so that local politicians could also hear the voice of Hongkongers.
UK-Hongkongers could also become pen pals, regularly writing to protesters behind the wall, reminding them they had not been forgotten.
Taiwan Be Aware
On April 16, Hongkongers who migrated to Taiwan launched their silent protest as part of the global campaign to support arrested Hong Kong protesters while warning the Taiwanese not to give in to the Chinese Community Party’s lies.Taiwan-Hongkongers stood silently in the crowded Ximending District under the scorching sun to show solidarity with the Hong Kong 47 arrestees.
The silent protest attracted many Taiwanese passersby to show their support to Hongkongers.
Hong Kong exile, Tong Wai-hung, said, “Over 10,000 people in Hong Kong have been arrested since the protests. Many of them have not attended trials yet, and they have been locked up for about two to three years. It is an unjust reality. It violates human rights to freedom.”
Lee Ming-che, a Taiwanese pro-democracy activist and an NGO worker, cautioned Taiwanese people to open their eyes. “Not only do we all face a common aggressor, the CCP, as you can see in Hong Kong:
What does the regime’s “One Country, Two Systems” look like?”
Lee warned Taiwan to look closely at the erosion of freedom in Hong Kong and Xinjiang’s re-education camps. He said Taiwan should think carefully about which fate they would choose.”
Meanwhile, the former Vice President of the Chinese University of Hong Kong hoped that the Taiwanese could reference Hongkongers as their example and realize the lies the Chinese regime had been telling about “One Country, Two Systems” and the so-called universal suffrage.
“If you believe a tyrant’s promise, you will only meet with a tragic end: just look at Hongkongers,” he said.
