Just Saying | Why does Taiwan treat fleeing Hong Kong activists as illegal immigrants after inciting them?
- Yonden Lhatoo calls out the Taipei government for promising a safe haven for young anti-Beijing activists fleeing the city and failing to deliver as they risk their lives to reach the self-ruled island
Are the chickens finally coming home to roost for cocky little Taiwan?
Just this week, China’s coastguard intercepted a boatload of bedraggled anti-government activists from Hong Kong with a one-way ticket to Taiwan. All 12 were arrested for illegally entering mainland Chinese waters.
The extradition of this group to Hong Kong is not a complicated matter. Under mainland law, they can be jailed for up to a year as illegal immigrants before being returned home, but an established mechanism also allows for wanted fugitives to be sent back across the border to face trial here.
More complex and politically charged is the similar detention of five other Hong Kong activists, this time by Taiwan’s maritime authorities, while attempting to flee the city for asylum on the self-ruled island last month. According to Taiwanese media reports, they were arrested by the island’s coastguard when their boat ran out of fuel in waters administered by Taipei.
