Days after he learned he was wanted by police on suspicion of violating the national security law, exiled pro-independence activist Wayne Chan told HKFP that he chose to leave Hong Kong so that he could continue to say things that are banned.
Chan – now in the UK – fled Hong Kong in early June after Beijing’s rubber-stamp congress announced plans to introduce legislation to criminalise subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. The wide-reaching new law was formulated behind closed doors and promulgated without local scrutiny.
State-run CCTV reported on Friday that Chan was wanted by the Hong Kong police, alongside five other overseas pro-democracy figures. He was kept a low-profile since fleeing and says it is unclear to him why he was being sought. But he told HKFP that it may be because he shared a picture of a Hong Kong independence flag on Facebook on July 1.
“I had the idea of leaving around two to three days after the national security legislation was announced,” Chan said. “It was, by then, a clear message that the Chinese Communist Party would not preserve any values of Hong Kong and was about to oppress Hongkongers in the most severe manner.”
He cited human rights abuses at concentration camps in Xinjiang, China – which Beijing insists are Uighur “vocational” centres – adding that he thought such things could happen in Hong Kong too.
https://hongkongfp.com/2020/08/03/exclusive-wanted-by-beijing-activist-in-exile-wayne-chan-says-he-wont-stop-fighting-for-hong-kong-independence/