Taiwanese President Calls for Global Defense of Human Rights in Hong Kong

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, noting her country’s status at the “forefront of the world’s fight against authoritarian expansion,” condemned Tuesday the increasing use of violence Hong Kong police are imposing on pro-democracy protesters.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), her political party, also issued a statement condemning the violence. Many pro-democracy protesters have fled to democratic Taiwan as the Beijing-controlled Hong Kong police have escalated the use of tear gas and other anti-riot equipment – and, this week, opened fire on unarmed protesters. Taiwan, in turn, has hundreds of students studying in Hong Kong on campuses that have become increasingly hostile to free thinkers.

Hong Kong police invaded the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) on Tuesday to suppress pro-democracy protesters, destroying a significant portion of the campus and attacking students. CUHK announced on Wednesday it would end the semester early to protect its students from state-sponsored harm.

The Communist Party of China, through its state media organs, has escalated its violent rhetoric against the protesters, threatening “doom” and supporting the use of live fire against them. A Hong Kong police officer was arrested last week for using a motorcycle to indiscriminately run over protesters; other officers were caught on camera pepper-spraying a pregnant woman within inches of her face.

Protesters have also experienced a number of incidents in which individual men who appear to be from China have engaged in vigilante violence against them, including mob beatings, stabbings, and, in one case, a pro-China attacker biting off a public official’s ear.

“The presence of the police is to protect the people, and the government’s presence is to serve the people,” Tsai wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “When the police no longer protect the people and the government no longer thinks of the people, such a government will surely lose the trust of the people.”

Tsai urged Hong Kong’s government to take a “step back” against violence and “not use the blood of the young people of Hong Kong as makeup for the faces of Beijing authorities.”

“Hong Kong’s freedom and the rule of law is being eroded by authority, and Taiwan is at the forefront of the world’s fight against authoritarian expansion,” Tsai added. “I urge those in the international community who believe in the values of freedom and democracy to stand up and pay attention to the out-of-control situation in Hong Kong”:

Tsai’s party, the DPP, issued a separate statement condemning violence against student protesters in Hong Kong.

“In the months since the Hong Kong people began protesting against the anti-extradition bill, there have been ceaseless incidents of police brutality against Hong Kong citizens,” the DPP said, urging Taiwanese people to support Hong Kong and condemning the policy that allows China to control Hong Kong, “One Country, Two Systems.”

Under “One Country, Two Systems,” China has sovereignty over Hong Kong, and it is all but illegal to call for independence for the city. China cannot, however, impose communism on Hong Kong legally. Since China took over the city in 1997, it has made increasingly bold attempts to violate “One Country, Two Systems,” most recently promoting a legislative bill that would have allowed China to extradite individuals present in Hong Kong, effectively making communist law enforceable in Hong Kong.

The extradition bill launched the current wave of protests, which began in June. In September, Chief Executive Carrie Lam yielded to the demand of the protesters to fully withdraw the bill from consideration. Protesters have made four other demands: freedom for political prisoners, direct election of lawmakers, an end to calling protesters “rioters,” and an independent investigation into police brutality.

Lam has insisted she will not address the other four, leading protesters to adopt the slogan “five key demands, not one less.”

Beijing has for years attempted to impose “One Country, Two Systems” on Taiwan, a sovereign nation that operates fully independently of China. Taiwanese officials have warned that such a system is untenable and would lead to the brutal imposition of communism on the free island.

Taiwan also has a vested interest in seeing the violence engulfing CUHK on Tuesday disappear, as it has citizens present on that campus. According to Focus Taiwan, the government began helping 126 CUHK students return to Taiwan on Wednesday after fires and police attacks forced the school to shut down. The Taiwanese student association issued a petition to the government to help those of the 303 registered Taiwanese students there who wished to return home to do so.

Police raided the CUHK campus on Tuesday, allegedly looking to weed out protesters hiding from officers for their participation in the protests. Among the tools they used to attack protesters was a giant water cannon gushing out blue dye, meant to stain anyone in the vicinity and make them easy-to-spot targets.

CUHK announced it would shut down for the semester on Wednesday:

In view of the escalation of social movements across the territory, the continuous disruption to public transport services, as well as the severe damage done to facilities on campus, The Chinese University of Hong Kong announces the shortening of Term 1 in this academic year 2019-20, and all classes including undergraduate and postgraduate conducted on campus are called off with immediate effect until the beginning of Term 2 on 6 January 2020.

According to Hong Kong police, officers fired 1,567 tear gas canisters, 1,312 rubber bullets, 380 bean bag rounds, and 126 sponge grenades. The officers said such measures were necessary in light of the use of Molotov cocktails and other makeshift weapons by protesters.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the protesters once again on Wednesday.

“I want to stress again that the issue in front of Hong Kong is by no means about human rights or democracy, but rather about ending violence and chaos, restoring order and upholding rule of law,” spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters, condemning a pending U.S. law that would help protesters and seek stronger measures to punish Hong Kong’s government for its violence. “The US Congressman, turning a blind eye to the Hong Kong protestors’ flagrant offenses including beating people, smashing properties and setting fire, openly bolstered radical forces and violent criminals.”

“The incessant large-scale violent offenses have pushed Hong Kong to a precarious position. As Chief Executive Carrie Lam stated, the rioters’ behaviors have gone far beyond their so-called appeals. They are becoming [the] enemy of the people,” Geng added.

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