During the "storm over the amendment of the law" in Hong Kong, a group of rioters in Hong Kong absconded in fear of crime, and 5 of them were exposed to have smuggled into Taiwan in July 2020, first arriving in the Dongsha Islands, and then secretly resettling in Kaohsiung.
The Wall Street Journal of the United States published an article on June 20 exposing their absconding experience by interviewing 3 of them, and exposing that the authorities refused to allow 5 people to stay in Taiwan because they were worried about the mainland's "invasion of Dongsha". Eventually, with the intervention of the U.S. State Department, they arrived in New York via Zurich.
The Wall Street Journal: How 5 Hong Kong 'Protesters' Absconded by Speedboat and "Gained Freedom" in the U.S.
"We were scared to death"
The three interviewed, alias Ray (25), Tommy (22) and Kenny (26), of whom Ray, a warehouse clerk, was involved in the riots at the University of Chinese and Polytechnic University in Hong Kong in November 2019.
Tommy, a 22-year-old student, was detained for three days for illegal assembly, released on bail and had his passport confiscated, facing charges of rioting. Kenny, a 26-year-old civil engineer, was arrested in October 2019 and charged with assaulting police officers on multiple counts.
According to the report, Tommy and Kenny had paid tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars to try to smuggle out of Hong Kong, but they could not make the trip due to a scam. In the end, the three people each paid $1,300 (about HK$10,000) to buy a twin-engine inflatable speedboat to abscond. They declined to name who arranged the escape, claiming fear of "retaliation" from the SAR government.
One early morning in mid-July 2020, five rioters dressed in inconspicuous clothes gathered at a remote pier in Hong Kong, one carrying a fishing rod and the other carrying "life savings." Because they did not know each other and were worried that "spies" would be mixed in, they rarely communicated.
Five people took turns at the helm, navigating on an iPhone and compass, while others looked around, some of them learning how to steer a boat at sea through the video site Youtube.
After about 5 hours of speedboat travel, they found themselves still in mainland waters. During the encounter with unrecognizable ships, Ray described the mood at the time: "We were so scared that we didn't know what they were going to do. ”
In August 2020, Taiwan media exposed the absconding route of 5 rioters in Hong Kong Image source: China Times
Informed source: The Taiwan authorities are worried that the mainland has "invaded Dongsha" and refuse to allow 5 people to stay in Taiwan
After determining that they had entered the international sea, the 5 people slowed down the throttle and began to eat potato chips, candy and canned corn brought on board to fill their hunger. After more than 10 hours at sea, they turned off the engines and deliberately wrapped ropes around one engine to overheat it. They believe that in the case of only one engine that can run and there is not enough fuel, they will take it ashore as soon as someone finds it.
Subsequently, these people sent a distress signal with flashlights in the dark, and were discovered by the "Coast Guard" of the Taiwan authorities an hour later.
At first, the five were taken to the Dongsha Islands by the Taiwan authorities (under the actual jurisdiction of the Qijin District of Kaohsiung City), and then transferred to a secret government facility in Kaohsiung for resettlement. Some offered to stay in Taiwan, but they were told they had to leave all. The Wall Street Journal quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying that Taiwan officials of the security department were worried that the mainland might "invade Dongsha" on the grounds of "actively assisting Hong Kong fugitives."
According to Taiwan's China Times in August 2020, the DPP authorities felt that the five people smuggled into Taiwan felt very tricky, and if they were taken in, it would be like "political asylum", and it could also involve the Hong Kong National Security Law "colluding with foreign or foreign forces to endanger the country". However, if they are returned to Hong Kong, these people are expected to be arrested immediately, in violation of the so-called "commitments" of the DPP authorities, so they have issued a "gag order" to prohibit the outflow of information.
The Wall Street Journal said on June 20 that when asked about the matter, a spokesperson for Tsai Ing-wen's office declined to comment on security and privacy grounds, saying only that it would continue to "provide humanitarian assistance to Hong Kong people in accordance with the law."
Samuel Chu, the son of Zhu Yaoming, one of the "Three Uglies of Occupy Central", said that the U.S. State Department contacted him after learning of the incident and asked him to help the five people "get through the difficulties" through a "humanitarian parole" procedure.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment.
When Zhu Herdsmen were working in the United States, the US personnel stationed in Taiwan were not idle, and they specially went to Kaohsiung to visit the 5 people and made assurances to them. According to a person familiar with the matter, the US and Taiwan authorities spent six months studying and finally arranged for five people to take a commercial flight to Zurich, Switzerland, on January 13 this year, and then fly to New York.
Currently, Kenny lives in Washington, D.C., with a group of so-called "Hong Kong refugees," while Ray and Tommy share a basement in New York, both of whom claim to want to go to college and then join the U.S. military.
Before and after the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, a group of Hong Kong rioters tried to flee Hong Kong, and smuggling to Taiwan at sea was one of the means they used. However, under the airtight defense of the SAR Marine Police, failure is a common thing, and some Hong Kong rioters have tried unsuccessfully to smuggle by water three times.
On August 23 last year, the Guangdong Coast Guard seized a speedboat suspected of illegally crossing the border in the waters under its jurisdiction and arrested 12 Hong Kong rioters, including Li Yuxuan, who was arrested on the same day as Lai Chi-ying.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the five people in the report are the only people who have been confirmed to have absconded by boat and "gained freedom."
At present, the Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants for many Hong Kong rioters who have abandoned their insurance and absconded overseas. Hong Kong's Secretary for Security, Lee Ka-chiu, shouted to these people last month, "International relations are ever-changing, and when you have political value, [foreign countries] may take care of you, but when international relations change to the point where you have no use value, you may run out and then give up." But for sure, we will hold them criminally responsible for life. ”
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