Photo/Illutration People take to the streets to protest against the extradition bill, carrying a banner that reads, “There’s no riots, only tyranny” in Hong Kong on July 7, 2019. (Yuichiro Masumitsu)

This spring, a Hong Kong native started his new life as a researcher at the University of Tokyo's graduate school.

He is Sam Yip, 35, a pro-democracy activist and a former district councilor for Hong Kong's Shek Tong Tsui constituency.

Yip arrived in Japan to escape the intensifying crackdown on free speech in Hong Kong.

"I am so relieved," he said in fluent Japanese, which he said he picked up from watching Japanese anime. "I no longer have to be afraid of police banging on my door early in the morning."

But his feelings are also mixed. 

"I may never be able to go home again," he said. "It pains me to think that."

Freedom, which used to be as natural as air in Hong Kong society, has been rapidly lost in recent years. Many people have been robbed of their free speech rights and forced into silence.

There is now an endless stream of Hong Kong citizens going abroad like Yip, and the authorities have started to monitor such expats more intensely than ever.

It recently came to light that a Hong Kong woman who was studying in Japan was arrested for a reason that blew my mind: The authorities didn't approve of the content of the remarks she posted on social media.

This is tantamount to accusing anyone, anywhere around the world, of a crime under Hong Kong laws for saying or doing something that the Hong Kong authorities find "inappropriate."

This may not only inhibit Hong Kong citizens, but Japanese citizens as well who travel back and forth between the two nations, from speaking out or acting freely. And who knows, maybe that is precisely the intent of the Hong Kong government and the Beijing leadership behind it.

"But there are people who continue to quietly fight back," stressed Yip.

As I nodded in agreement, I also asked myself: Is this really just Hong Kong's problem? Or isn't it the freedom of all of us that is being threatened?

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 24

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

 

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