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A year ago Gwyneth Ho was standing in front of my apartment in Hamburg.

She wore a thin jacket and had cake and beer with her.

Gwyneth asked me if I wanted to be part of her campaign team for the Hong Kong Legislative Council in 2020.

I immediately accepted.

We discussed politics until four in the morning.

When I questioned whether her idealistic ideas could be implemented in this way, she looked confidently on: “We can do it, because I have you on my team.” She drank the last sip of beer.

That evening she told me she was prepared for anything, come what may.

Over 50 opposition members locked up in one day

On January 6, more opposition activists were arrested in Hong Kong than ever before.

They are accused of violating the controversial National Security Law introduced by China.

It's about an area code last summer.

Source: WORLD

Gwyneth, one of my closest and most fearless friends, was arrested on January 6th.

She was arrested along with 53 other activists for participating in the Legislative Council primaries organized by the pro-democracy camp in July 2020.

According to the national security law, this is already considered subversion.

She had hoped for a majority of more than 35 seats in the Legislative Council and to exercise the decision-making power that parliamentarians are entitled to under the Basic Law.

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So I returned to Hong Kong in May 2020 to support her in the election campaign.

During this time, I often had the urge to scream because of her impatience.

Gwyneth demands immediate answers and wants to get to the root of problems that most people don't care about.

Even worse is her love for profound, highly philosophical conversations that don't end until dawn.

We spent my last evening in the office before I left Hong Kong for Germany.

It basically consisted of drinking, talking and crying about what the future held.

It was my birthday month.

I didn't expect a party because of the dire circumstances, but my friends bought me a cake.

Gwyneth hugged me and said, "You have to take care of yourself."

Despite everything we as activists have done to save Hong Kong's democracy, I constantly worry that it is not enough.

Almost no country seems genuinely ready to stand against China if that means a loss of economic advantage.

It's frustrating, but I keep fighting for our rights, our freedom and my friends.

Like Gwyneth.

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Germany must react decisively to Beijing's human rights violations and the long arm of China, reject the unfair investment agreement between the EU and China, induce the EU to apply individual sanctions and prevent further interference in German science.

Gwyneth was prepared for an arrest long before the mass arrests.

While she was in custody, she did not think about her future, but asked for a piece of paper and pen.

Before she even got into the cell, she wrote a comment and asked her team to find a medium for the text.

Gwyneth knows Beijing will sentence her to more than ten years in prison.

She could even be sent to a detention center in mainland China.

Joshua Wong, our colleague and columnist for WELT AM SONNTAG, may face the same fate.

Gwyneth is captured, it's not me.

At the end of her article, she wrote, "When I saw the policeman put my passport in the evidence bag ... Ching ... that was the farewell to this life." Ching is what she calls me in her texts.

She said goodbye.

Most likely we will never see each other again.

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I really want to see Gwyneth again one day.

I hope we will eat Hotpot together - which we always wanted to do but which we never got around to.

I would never complain about their nightly discussions again;

she could tell me about her vision of Hong Kong's future for as long as she wanted.

This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.

We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.

Source: Welt am Sonntag