When I last updated this blog, the protests in Hong Kong was a nascent movement – a response to the Anti-Extradition bill and what it represented in terms of Beijing’s influence.
It was difficult watching from thousands of kilometres away, so I did what little I could do show support and to spread awareness.
By September 2019, the movement had spread. Hongkongers across the world started holding demonstrations in dozens of major cities, including Stockholm, Sweden.
When we started here, we were essentially a loose collective of concerned citizens (and residents), trying to help spread the word and let the people of Sweden know what was happening. Because China isn’t just a Hong Kong problem. It’s not just Taiwan’s problem. It’s everyone’s problem.
It will take a lot of work to help people see the issue and how they, as consumers, or as supporters of democracy and human rights in general, can help combat the growth of the Chinese Communist Party and its oppression of Hong Kong people, Uighurs, Tibetans, Mongolians, and countless others.
To that end, our little activist group here in Sweden officially established an NGO back in the summer of 2020. Befria Hongkong (Liberate Hong Kong) will allow us to continue our work, support those in need, and speak to the Swedish people and government in a single, unified voice.
The continued brutality of the Hong Kong Police Force and the National Security Law that came into effect on July 1 has all but silenced the movement in Hong Kong. It allowed for the arrest of more than 50 pro-democracy politicians and activists and forced many to flee to more democratic countries. For the most part, those countries — like the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom — have been welcoming, but it’s not enough.
I recently spoke to former HK legislative councillor, Ted Hui, and Joey Siu, from Hong Kong Watch, about the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment. It’s easy to see how frustrated and exhausted they are. But they keep going. They keep trying to fight for democracy in Hong Kong.
I’ve met a lot of people from all over Europe and the U.S. who continue to express their support and act with the kind of urgency that I believe the Chinese Communist Party warrants. Of course, I’m biased when it comes to this. Hong Kong was where I spent most of my life so far. The experiences that have come to define me happened in Hong Kong. Still, it’s difficult not to compare these people to everyone else around me here in Europe, and believe that the vast majority of people still take their freedoms for granted and treat this all like a distant, somewhat abstract issue.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have hope. We wouldn’t be fighting and we certainly wouldn’t have established an NGO if we weren’t hopeful. I have faith that the younger generations, who are more exposed to information and global issues, will realise the extent of this issue and take action. I have faith that the world is waking up, however slowly, to the threat of the Chinese Communist Party– we’ve seen that in the sanctions placed on certain figures, the human rights acts passed in the U.S., and decision by the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands to recognise that China is committing genocide in Xinjiang. We all just need to keep voicing our concern and expressing our support for human rights so that the international community really acts. Quickly.
Narayan Liu 