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2019–2020 Hong Kong Protest
The causes

On March 13, 2018, 19 year old Chan Tong-Kai confessed to murdering his 20 year old girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing in Taiwan when the Hong Kong police arrested him after he used Pong’s ATM card to withdraw cash in both Taiwan and Hong Kong. Because the murder took place in Taiwan, the authorities in Hong Kong had no jurisdiction to charge Chan with murder, but sentenced him for money laundering instead. Because Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, the region cannot make agreements such as a mutual legal assistance treaty with Taiwan, thus making the transfer of Chan to Taiwan extremely difficult.

In February 2019, the Hong Kong government proposed an amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance to allow the transfer of fugitives between Hong Kong and any place outside Hong Kong. Researcher Emile kok-Kheng Yeoh argued that the establishment of the amendment would “subject Hong Kong residents and visitors to the jurisdiction and legal system of mainland China, thereby undermining the region’s autonomy and Hong Kong people’s civil liberties.” As a result, on March 15, 2019, the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement began in Hong Kong.

In response to the Hong Kong protest, the Chinese government urged strengthening control over Hong Kong in order to bring “stability and prosperity” back to the Special Administrative Region (SAR), which in June 30, 2020, the Chinese government passed the Hong Kong National Security Law to give mainland officials the authority to operate within Hong Kong to punish people whom committed the crimes of secession ,subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. Simultaneously, using Hong Kong as example, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, also warned Taiwan that unification was inevitable.

Impact in Taiwan

Hong Kong National Security Law

The biggest threat of the law was the level of control that the Chinese government has over Hong Kong. Just one day after the establishment of the law, about 370 protestors were arrested, including 10 under the new law. Hatred towards the government of Beijing or Hong Kong was also defined as a serious crime, that people could be punished to the maximum of life imprisonment. American journalist John Pomfret viewed this legislation as “ a blueprint for dealing with Taiwan,” and argued that similar legislation may also be impose in Taiwan if been unified.

According to the survey organized by APF Canada and RIWI in August 2020, it showed that there was a positive correlation between concerns for Taiwan’s national security and agreement that the PRC has violated the “one country, two systems” principle. Overall, about 66 percent of the people express certain level of concern (from slight to extreme), and only 34 percent showed “not at all concerned.” Within that, majority of those who showed concerns either identified themselves of Taiwanese or a supporter of the DPP.

Taiwan 2020 Election

One significant impact in Taiwan was the increasing support to Tsai Ing-wen, the seventh president of Taiwan and a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Taiwan expert, Bonnie Glaser, believe that the circumstance in Hong Kong “resonated with Taiwan voters.” President Tsai was aware of this concern, so about 3 months after the protest began in Hong Kong, President Tsai announced her position and view about the protests on her Twitter account :

We stand with all freedom-loving people of #HongKong. In their faces, we see the longing for freedom, & are reminded that #Taiwan’s hard-earned democracy must be guarded & renewed by every generation. As long as I’m President, “one country, two systems” will never be an option.

In January 2020, Tsai was re-elected to be the president of Taiwan. Her victory represented that Taiwanese people demand and enjoy their free and democratic way of life.