Taiwan promises 'support' for Hong Kong's people as China tightens grip
Taiwan will provide the people of Hong Kong with “necessary
assistance”, President Tsai Ing-wen has said, after a resurgence in protests in
the Chinese-ruled territory against newly proposed national security
legislation from Beijing.
Taiwan has become a refuge for a small but growing number of
pro-democracy protesters fleeing Hong Kong, which has been convulsed since last
year by protests.
Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse
thousands of people who rallied on Sunday to protest against Beijing’s plan to
impose national security laws on the city.
Writing on her Facebook page late on Sunday, Tsai said the
proposed legislation was a serious threat to Hong Kong’s freedoms and judicial
independence.
Bullets and repression are not the way to deal with the
aspirations of Hong Kong’s people for freedom and democracy, she added.
“In face of the changing situation, the international
community has proactively stretched out a helping hand to Hong Kong’s people,”
Tsai wrote.
Taiwan will “even more proactively perfect and forge ahead
with relevant support work, and provide Hong Kong’s people with necessary
assistance,’” she wrote.
Taiwan has no law on refugees that could be applied to Hong
Kong protesters who seek asylum on the island. Its laws do promise, though, to
help Hong Kong citizens whose safety and liberty are threatened for political
reasons.
The Hong Kong protests have won widespread sympathy in
Taiwan, and the support for the protesters by Tsai and her administration have
worsened already poor ties between Taipei and Beijing.
Hong Kong officials have said they support the looming
legislation. On Monday, Hong Kong’s security chief said “terrorism” was growing
in the city, as government departments rallied behind Beijing’s plans to
introduce the national security laws.
“Terrorism is growing in the city and activities which harm
national security, such as ‘Hong Kong independence’, become more rampant,”
Secretary for Security John Lee said in a statement.
“In just a few months, Hong Kong has changed from one of the
safest cities in the world to a city shrouded in the shadow of violence,” he
said.
Hong Kong’s former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa said the
plan was the “best cure” for his city’s recent instability while the acting
head of the immigration department said it supported Beijing decision and would
“strictly control immigration” to prevent any activities that “endanger
national security”.
The decision has continued to invite criticism within Hong
Kong. The Hong Kong Bar Association said the legislation by China’s National
People’s Congress would violate the territory’s de-facto constitution, which
explicitly states that Hong Kong enact its own national security law.
“This is unprecedented. The public must be allowed the
opportunity to properly consider and debate about proposed laws which affect
their personal rights and obligations,” it said in a statement.
Chinese officials on Monday sought to reassure the public,
while also threatening “to hit back at any possible sanctions from Washington.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters that Beijing
would take “countermeasures” against any US attempt to harm the country’s
national security.
Xie Feng, commissioner of China’s ministry of foreign
affairs in Hong Kong said that some of the protest activities last year were
“terrorist in nature”. Noting that that the law will only affect a small number
of residents, he said there is “absolutely no need to panic.”
Officials in Beijing and Hong Kong have bristled at the
growing international condemnation of the move to impose national security laws
and accused those supported the protesters of foreign interference. Hong Kong
China has accused supporters of Taiwan independence of colluding with the
protesters.
China believes Tsai to be a “separatist” bent on declaring
the island’s formal independence. Tsai says Taiwan is already an independent
country called the Republic of China, its official name.
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