Phil C. W. Chan

Opinion | Hongkongers in the UK championing the cause back home can speak for themselves, thank you

Foreign governments, organisations and activists should not assume for themselves the mantle of white saviours in defence of human rights, democracy and rule of law in Hong Kong

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Phil C. W. Chan

Published: 1:00am, 18 Apr 2022

Allegiance and belonging have been at the forefront of my psyche ever since I returned to Hong Kong in September 2019 in the midst of Hong Kong’s political crisis and social unrest when formation of a Hong Kong identity was reaching its peak. As I moved to London a year later as a British National (Overseas), following China’s imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong – not out of fear, but of desolation that Hong Kong’s struggle for what it had been promised was irretrievably lost – the systemic deterioration of the human rights situation in Hong Kong has often prompted me to ponder if Hongkongers have done all we could, and if our cause for democracy and political accountability has been worth their ultimate permanent destruction.

Being gay and childless, I have been able to travel around the world for extended periods of time and try to listen to, understand and learn from peoples whose countries have undergone similarly traumatic political and social transformations. In the past four months, I was in South Africa and Namibia, which are still adapting to legacies of decades-long apartheid.

A highlight of my visit was the varied responses I got when conversing with a group of young white Namibians about their sense of allegiance and belonging. As I shared my perspectives as a Hongkonger, one of them said Hongkongers did not deserve universal suffrage. The Namibian considered Hong Kong too small and insignificant, even though his country, with a population of 2.5 million, fought a war of independence with South Africa that lasted 23 years and seven months.

In London, I have, from time to time, received heartfelt expressions of support and solidarity from complete strangers. One aspect of my lived experience as a Hong Kong émigré has nevertheless stood out.

At assemblies Hongkongers in London are expected to attend as a matter of duty and conscience, invariably almost all Hongkongers are masked and keep quiet for fear of being identified, while white Hong Kong Watch activists take centre stage to tell us about the demise of Hong Kong, as if we needed to be lectured about what happened to our home.

While claiming to speak and fight for Hongkongers, Hong Kong Watch neglects Hongkongers’ own voices and lived experience. Its publicly identified staffers include one Hongkonger. Its self-anointment as guardian of what Hongkongers wanted for Hong Kong bears striking resemblance to the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong and people from mainland China telling Hongkongers what Hong Kong is and should be.