When rioters pretend to be dissidents
- Two activists who advocate Hong Kong independence have been granted refugee protection by Germany after skipping bail on charges related to Mong Kok clashes
Two alleged Mong Kok rioters skipped bail, fled Hong Kong and were granted refugee protection in Germany. Instead of bemoaning the pair’s escape from justice and Germany’s misguided decision, opposition critics and some human rights groups are practically celebrating.
Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing are fellow members of the localist group Hong Kong Indigenous, which advocates the city’s secession from mainland China. Both are wanted by police for their part in the 2016 riot that left more than 100 people injured, mostly police.
They deserve a trial; and if guilty, jail. Germany, unfortunately, bought into their claims about persecution. Some people just don’t have the guts to face the consequences of their actions.
Wilson Chan Wai-shun, a lecturer at Chinese University’s global studies programme, said: “This shows the international community is having greater doubts over whether Hong Kong can handle political dissidents in a fair and just manner.”
Hmm, it’s one country talking, not the international community.
Piya Muqit, of the human rights group Justice Centre Hong Kong, made an even more absurd statement. “If Hong Kong truly lived up to its claims of being an oasis for rule of law in Asia and showcased its access to justice as a hallmark of ‘Asia’s world city’,” she asked, “why are residents fleeing to Germany instead of feeling safe at home?”
Because they committed a crime but didn’t want to face the music, perhaps?
People shouldn’t read too much into Germany’s decision. Many member states of the European Union have fairly liberal asylum laws.
According to The Washington Post, for example, 12 American citizens were granted asylum in Britain in 2015 alone, out of a total of 60. In that year, there were a total of 150 applications for asylum from US citizens across the EU, of which 10 were made in Germany.
Why were so many Americans fleeing persecution from such a paragon of freedom and democracy?
Wong and Li are expected to speak in the German parliament to mark the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. But they were among localists who boycotted previous June 4 vigils because they claimed China was a foreign country and what happened there didn’t concern them.
Aged 25 and 27, they weren’t even born in 1989. They knew nothing about June 4 and cared even less about it. Talk about pandering to an audience – just to make themselves look like dissidents!
