A14 eZ su the washington post.monday, february 24 , 2020
BY NICK ASPINWALLTAIPEI — Che-lam Presbyterian
Church is next door to Ta iwan’s
legislature and a stone’s throw
from the presidential office in the
island’s capital.
But while President Ts ai Ing-
wen’s support for Hong Kong
protesters powered her to reelec-
tion last month, the church is
Ta iwan’s only institution to pub-
licly provide material assistance
to people who have fled the Asian
financial hub’s crackdown on
demonstrators.
Since protests erupted in June,
hundreds of Hong Kongers have
sought refuge in Ta iwan, a self-
governed democracy over which
China asserts sovereignty. Most
have entered legally, but a minori-
ty have used smugglers to reach
Ta iwan by boat. And although
Ta iwan has temporarily barred
entry to most Hong Kongers amid
the coronavirus outbreak, many
in Hong Kong view the island as a
place to resettle should their po-
litical strife worsen.
“We don’t ask them their
names, we don’t ask how they
came here,” said Charles Kong,
secretary for Che-lam head pas-
tor Huang Chun-sheng. “We just
provide support once they get
here.”
The church is doing what offi-
cials say Ts ai’s government can-
not be seen doing, at least not too
openly: helping Hong Kong refu-
gees navigate a path to remain in
Ta iwan.
Kong says the church has never
had contact with couriers shut-
tling Hong Kong protesters to
Ta iwan, some without passports
or other documentation. But Che-
lam has sent an estimated
$530,000 in donated face masks
and goggles to protesters in Hong
Kong and has helped newly ar-
rived Hong Kongers extend their
stay in Ta iwan, often providing
medical care, housing subsidies
and access to pro bono legal
assistance.
He estimates that 200 Hong
Kong activists have passed
through the church, with at least
30 electing to stay in Ta iwan. But
others never reach its doors be-
cause of the proliferation of scam-
mers and illicit agents who seek
to exploit undocumented arrivals
for financial gain.
Ta iwan, which is not a member of
the United Nations, has not
signed the U.N. Refugee Conven-
tion and has no formal asylum
laws. Its government processes
people from Hong Kong on a
case-by-case basis but provides
no public assurance of their long-
term legal status, leading to con-
cerns that the uncertainty creates
gaps for protesters to be exploit-
ed.
Rights groups and Hong Kong
activists have reported cases of
scammers promising formal doc-
umentation for large sums of
money, and some worry that
C hina-backed actors are seeking
to contact and influence Hong
Kongers in Ta iwan under the
guise of offering humanitarian
assistance.
The lack of formal channels for
incoming Hong Kongers leaves
them uncertain about where to
turn for help, said Wayne Chan
Ka-kui, convener of the Hong
Kong Independence Union.“They don’t trust NGOs. They
don’t trust political parties,” he
said.
In November, Chan was in con-
tact with three Hong Kong pro-
testers who entered Ta iwan and
were lured by an individual who
promised them help, but who
ultimately solicited donations
while preventing the dissidents
from contacting NGOs, he said,
citing people close to the trio. He
could not provide their names for
security reasons.
“It’s like kidnapping,” Chan
said.
Hong Kong was guaranteed a
high degree of autonomy under
its 1997 handover from Britain to
China, but the Communist Party’s
tightening grip has many fearing
for their future. A now-with-
drawn proposal that would have
allowed criminal suspects to be
tried in mainland China’s politi-
cized courts sparked Hong Kong’s
worst unrest in decades.Ta iwan’s Mainland Affairs
Council, the government agency
responsible for relations with
China, Hong Kong and Macao,
said in an email that it was aware
of a self-proclaimed Hong Kong
activist residing in Ta iwan who
“lured other Hong Kongers to
Ta iwan” and was forced to leave
the island after overstaying his
visa.
“Persons who lure other Hong
Kongers to Ta iwan in the name of
support for the Hong Kong anti-
extradition movement, and who
instigate and threaten others into
illegal actions will be faced with
Ta iwan’s relevant criminal charg-
es,” t he agency said.
There are other cases. In Sep-
tember, local media reported
about an online advertisement
promising Hong Kongers legal
status in Ta iwan for about $640.
Chiu E-ling, then the secretary
general of the Ta iwan Association
for Human Rights, notified au-thorities, who released a state-
ment urging Hong Kongers to be
wary of fraudsters.
Chiu said such instances
showed the need for laws allow-
ing Hong Kongers to seek asylum
in Ta iwan. “We don’t w ant to have
more victims of human traffick-
ing,” s he said.
Since Hong Kong’s protests es-
calated, only one Hong Kong na-
tional has publicly stated his in-
tention to stay in Ta iwan. Lam
Wing-kee, a bookseller who ar-
rived last year amid fears he could
be extradited from Hong Kong to
face criminal charges in China,
plans to open a bookstore in
Ta ipei.
Some Hong Kongers view Lam
as a test case should they, too,
seek to stay in Ta iwan perma-
nently. But he is on a tourist visa
and insists that Hong Kongers
should understand the limita-
tions of Ta iwan’s government.
“Most of them are very impa-tient and anxious. I’ve been trying
to talk to them and calm them
down,” Lam said in an interview.
“I’m using myself as an example
and sharing my experience.”
Last J uly, he identified one case
of a student protester who, upon
arriving in Ta iwan, was ap-
proached by a man purporting to
be a national security agent. Lam,
and the student’s companions,
feared the man was trying to “buy
off the protesters.”
Ho Ming-sho, a sociology pro-
fessor at National Ta iwan Univer-
sity, said Hong Kong protesters
wary of spies and police infiltrat-
ing their ranks carry those fears
to Ta iwan, potentially leaving
them “prone to rumors and
scams.”
Domestic rights groups have
called for Ta iwan to utilize Article
18 of its Act Governing Relations
With Hong Kong and Macao,
which allows the government to
assist those “whose safety and
liberty are immediately threat-
ened for political reasons.”
Ta iwan has not publicly used
the article, instead deferring to
existing immigration laws.
“They’re trying to be cautious,”
Ho said.
But Ta iwan has quietly created
avenues for Hong Kongers to stay,
ranging from a pilot program for
students to less-publicized mea-
sures such as unofficially loosen-
ing restrictions on tourist visa
extensions.
“We have elastic ways to deal
with that,” said Wang Ting-yu, a
legislator in Ta iwan’s r uling Dem-
ocratic Progressive Party. “This
kind of rescue system, this help
system, we have that. It’s happen-
ing now.”
Joseph Wu, Ta iwan’s foreign
minister, said in December that
Ta iwan would consider adjusting
its assistance if China’s military
invaded Hong Kong. For now,
Wang said, a formal process to
accept Hong Kong refugees
would “offer Beijing an excuse to
accuse Ta iwan of being behind
this movement.”
While the government says it
cannot publicly open its doors to
Hong Kong protesters, Wang said
it is ensuring that those doors are
not closed completely. “We have
an obligation to help them,” he
said. “But we have our own way to
help them.”
[email protected]In Taiwan, refugees from Hong Kong find a legal limbo
Vincent Yu/associated Press
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