Last July, five young men boarded a pleasure boat at a remote port in Hong Kong. They passed waters patrolled by Chinese authorities and headed east, across the South China Sea.
As they approached Taiwan, they turned off the engine, waiting to be rescued by the Taiwan Coast Guard. They were in luck.
Now, after months in Taiwan, they plan to apply for asylum in the United States, where they arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York on Wednesday.
They are part of a group of political activists who have fled Hong Kong since China’s central government imposed a tough national security law in the city in June, extinguishing many forms of political dissent, including pro-democracy protests in which the five men did participated.
The account of his escape from Hong Kong, his stay in Taiwan and his arrival in the United States was provided by Samuel Chu, founder of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a Washington-based advocacy group that organized the travel and accommodation of the men and is to help them apply for asylum. None of the five men wanted to be identified for fear that it could endanger their relatives in Hong Kong. One of them spoke on condition of anonymity.
While in Taiwan, they were held at a military base and were unable to communicate with their family and friends, although the man who agreed to be interviewed said they were treated well. They believe the United States offers the best chance for them to start their lives over, he said.
After weeks of negotiations, the men were able to enter the United States for humanitarian reasons, Chu said.
Its arrival in the United States could create more tensions between China and the United States, representing an initial challenge for the next Biden government, just when relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in decades.
China has classified Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters as criminals, while the United States and other democracies have challenged China for its crackdown on the city’s freedoms. The involvement of Taiwan, an island of autonomous democracy claimed by China, only heightens sensitivity.
Spokesmen for the United States Department of State and Citizenship and Immigration Services declined to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns. A press officer from the American Institute in Taiwan, which serves as the de facto American embassy there, also declined to comment, nor did a spokesman for the Interior Affairs Council of Taiwan.
All five protesters, aged 18 to 26, fled Hong Kong fearing they would soon be arrested, and at least one had already been arrested in connection with his role in the protests, Chu said.
The Trump administration’s decision in its final days to allow men to enter for humanitarian reasons contrasts with the drastic reduction in refugee quotas over the past four years. In December, legislation in Congress that would have made it easier for Hong Kong residents to obtain refugee status was blocked by Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican.
A few years ago, the idea of political dissidents fleeing Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, would have seemed unimaginable. Hong Kong’s more than 7 million people have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and enjoy political freedoms unknown in mainland China.
But after Xi Jinping became China’s top leader in late 2012, Beijing began to rule Hong Kong with an increasingly heavy hand. The national security law, imposed after massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests that swept the city in 2019, prompted some activists to leave. Most left in a much less dramatic way, boarding a plane for Europe or North America; others, fearing being arrested at the airport, went to sea.
In August, weeks after the five men arrived in Taiwan, another 12 Hong Kong activists were caught by the Chinese Coast Guard while trying to reach the island. Most of them had been arrested in Hong Kong and were leaving to avoid the trial. They were detained for months in mainland China without charge; in December, 10 of the activists received prison terms ranging from seven months to three years, two for organizing an escape attempt and the other for illegally crossing a border. Two other activists, both young, were returned to Hong Kong.
Other countries have also welcomed Hong Kong activists. Canada has granted asylum to 14 Hong Kong people since the end of December, according to a statement from the New Hong Kong Cultural Club Canada, a group of volunteers who help political refugees in the city. In October, the Hong Kong government protested Germany’s granting of asylum to a demonstration leader who faced riot charges.
Britain is offering a new visa to Hong Kong residents that could allow millions of them, who were born before the 1997 transfer, to become British citizens.
Amy Qin and Amy Chang Chien contributed reporting.