Taiwan urged to support more Hong Kongers seeking asylum

TAIWAN’S government should revise laws to support more Hong Kongers seeking asylum, lobbied Taipei-based non-governmental organizations and Hong Kongers living in Taiwan on Wednesday, amid fears Hong Kong’s national security law will undermine freedom and the rule of law there.

The rights groups charged that a proposed national security law in Hong Kong meant the collapse of the concept of “One Country, Two Systems” imposed there, stressing that Taiwan should be well prepared in response to an emerging refugee crisis. The new law has raised concerns that China has grown tired of Hong Kong’s independence and is prepared to crack down. That raises fears of a similar fate in Taiwan.

Taiwan has had its own government since 1949. Beijing considers the self-governing democracy part of its territory.

According to the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Taiwan’s existing laws fail to comprehensively assist Hong Kong pro-democracy activists seeking asylum in Taiwan.

“The impacts of Hong Kong’s national security law are devastating there,” Chiang said.

“Helping Hong Kong is actually helping Taiwan, as Chinese imperialism remains expanding,” said Wu Rwei-ren, an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Taiwan History. Taiwan President Tsai Ingwen late on Wednesday called on Beijing to reverse its decision and make the dialogue possible in the society of Hong kong.

“We will continue to support Hong Kong people’s determination to pursue democracy and freedom, which we believe are essential for regional peace and stability,” Tsai told reporters at the ruling Progressive Progressive Party’s headquarters in Taipei.