00:00This is Fu Tong, an exiled Hong Konger now living in Taiwan.
00:04He's guiding visitors at this Taipei exhibition on human rights in his native land.
00:09Fu and his wife were one of the first demonstrators to be charged under a Hong Kong national security law
00:33after their participation in the city's 2019 pro-democracy protests.
00:38They came here to Taiwan, where they run a Muay Thai studio while continuing to fight for Hong Kong's freedom.
00:47Fu is among those in Taipei this year marking June 4th,
00:51the anniversary of Beijing's bloody 1989 crackdown on students and workers protesting in Tiananmen Square,
00:58an event rights groups say could have killed thousands.
01:02It's a commemoration still taboo in China and is now banned in Hong Kong,
01:10with memorials removed and museums shuttered.
01:13Fu says increased surveillance since Hong Kong's Beijing imposed national security law in 2020 has stifled dissent,
01:28creating an atmosphere of fear.
01:33Fu says increased surveillance since Hong Kong's Beijing imposed national security law in 2020 has stifled dissent,
01:39creating an atmosphere of fear.
01:52You don't know if you will lose freedom for a long time.
01:54This is what we are very afraid of,
01:57and the people of Taiwan are very afraid of what will happen."
02:01And as cross-strait tensions escalate,
02:03with Beijing ramping up military and political pressure on Taipei,
02:07many in Taiwan view Hong Kong as a warning.
02:11We are very clear that the government wants to do what we are doing.
02:15But for Fu and others like him,
02:25June 4th is not just about remembrance.
02:27It's a call to remain vigilant,
02:29especially as Taiwan's democratic future grows increasingly uncertain.
02:34I can't compare with Hong Kong,
02:36because I'm in the most comfortable situation in Hong Kong.
02:40In his pursuit to keep advocating for freedom and democracy far away from his home,
03:06Fu has found a new home here in Taiwan.
03:09Eastern Pan Admiral Stewart for Taiwan Plus.
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