Analysis: "Hong Kong activists have many touch points with Taiwan"

- Taiwan and Hong Kong share the same fate. We are both facing the repression from Beijing, and we both know the press from Beijing, Wong said during a press conference in Taiwan. Or in Taiwan, depending on how you see it, he said.

What preposition should one use, in or on Taiwan? The People's Republic of China considers Taiwan to be a Chinese island. But in addition to access to certain international organizations, Taiwan acts as its own state.

Hong Kong's fate would look different if Taiwan did not have "controversial political status", as it says on Wikipedia.

The principle of "One country, two systems" that has ruled Hong Kong for a long time was designed by then-supreme leader Deng Xiaoping for Taiwan. And it is likely that China would never have signed the joint agreement with Britain in 1984 - the agreement that guaranteed "a high degree of autonomy" for Hong Kong - unless China wanted to give Taiwan a good example. Britain had nothing to negotiate with, Hong Kong would be returned to China after 99 years, so the contract stated.

That is why Joshua Wong goes to Taiwan. And that is why activists in Hong Kong have many points of contact with Taiwan. When SVT and photographer Per Leandersson were in Hong Kong in August, we met pop stars Denise Ho and Anthony Wong, both of whom made themselves impossible on the Chinese mainland by supporting the Hong Kong democracy movement.

As a result, they have lost the opportunity to tour the mainland, or to participate in films that can be shown on the mainland. Or sell discs. Or join TV shows.

But in Taiwan, Denise Ho can walk on the red carpet. And Taiwanese artists have recorded a song in support of the protests, and invited both Denise Ho and Anthony Wong.

- When the "one country, two systems" principle has already collapsed, we urge people in Taiwan that it is time to protect Hong Kong and support Hong Kong people in the fight for free elections. Now that we are keenly aware of the white terror of Beijing and its icy effect in Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is time to show solidarity, Joshua Wong said at the press conference in Taiwan.

"The White Terror" is another point of contact between Hong Kong and Taiwan. The term "white terror" usually describes the political repression in Taiwan during the years 1949-1987. But today, the word has been taken up by Hong Kong activists and used as a belligerent designation of a state-controlled strategy to create fear through various types of violence against its citizens.

Taiwan has presidential and parliamentary elections in early 2020. And that's another reason why Joshua Wong goes to Taiwan. For China, there is still snail on Taiwan, and a military intervention in Hong Kong would most likely mean success for the current ruling party DPP (Democratic Progress Party) and leader Tsai Ing-wen. China would much rather see the opposition party Kuomintang as the winner.

In 2014, Taiwan had its own protest movement directed at Chinese influence, the Sunflower Revolution. In Taiwan's case, the protests included a trade agreement with China, which the students felt would make Taiwan more inclined to take political considerations into China differently. Kuomintang lost the subsequent 2016 presidential election.

- We hope that we can do something together in the future to make Hong Kong a place that can have democracy and freedom. Earlier, starting five years ago, during the Umbrella Revolution and the Sunflower Revolution, we have often said "today Hong Kong, tomorrow Taiwan". But now I think we should instead hope for and try to achieve "today Taiwan, tomorrow Hong Kong," said Joshua Wong at the Taipei press conference.