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Image source,EPA
Xu Zhifeng confirmed that he was in exile and called on Europe to increase sanctions and help the protesters.
Former Hong Kong Legislative Council Member and Current Western and Central District Councilor Hui Zhifeng December 3Confirmed on social media sitesI will leave Hong Kong temporarily, go into exile and withdraw from the Hong Kong Democratic Party. In the future, I will help expand the international front and speak for Hong Kong abroad.
Xu Zhifeng stressed that he is an exile, not an immigrant, and that he will come to the UK first in the short term, but he has not yet decided which country to stay in. You have to settle your family first. He said he did not seek asylum and emphasized that “there is only Hong Kong at home” and “I prefer to wander and wait for my return. One day at home.”
“I will never emigrate, and I will never be able to put down roots elsewhere. My home is only Hong Kong,” he said on Facebook.
Xu Zhifeng is another former Hong Kong legislator in exile after Luo Guancong who appeared in the UK.
Xu Zhifeng, 38, began serving as a member of the Legislative Council in 2016. He voiced his demands more intensely in Parliament and is considered a “reformer of the Democratic Party.”
He is currently facing nine crimes in Hong Kong, including cases related to conflicts with last year’s “anti-broadcast” movement and the Legislative Council on the “National Anthem Law.” He has to report to the police station regularly, but he was granted bail and judicial permission to leave the country for official reasons.
After the Hong Kong “National Security Law” came into force, he was never involved in cases related to the “National Security Law”.
However, when he met members of parliament in Denmark on this trip, he called on many European countries to follow the United States in sanctions against human rights violations in Hong Kong and to help Hong Kong protesters relocate. . Legislators and the media in the Hong Kong establishment considered his words and actions in violation of the Hong Kong National Security Law. “.
The Hong Kong government and police have yet to respond.
Trip to Denmark and departure of loved ones
Xu Zhifeng went to Denmark on November 30 for official reasons. At first, he repeatedly emphasized that he was attending climate change events there, telling the media that he would not seek asylum and that he planned to return to Hong Kong on December 4. However, online outlet “Hong Kong 01” cited anonymous sources shortly after his arrival that Xu Zhifeng’s parents, wife, and two young children left Hong Kong by plane on the night of December 2, prompting speculation. that he planned to leave Hong Kong for a long time. Many netizens leave a message on Xu Zhifeng’s Facebook page, urging him not to return to Hong Kong. When the Chinese BBC reporter called his office on Thursday (December 3), the staff said that they also learned about Xu Zhifeng’s movement from the media.
Xu Zhifeng said on the social media site that after leaving Hong Kong, citizens and friends heard the words “please don’t come back” from their mobile phones, “I don’t know how to describe this kind of pain and I can’t bear the tears. “.
Image source,Ted hui
He said: “I ask myself every moment, what can I still do for Hong Kong? I have fought in every way, hoping to fight in the streets like last year, and criminal responsibility will be released. I have also done everything. possible by staying in the remnant parliament., With my remaining body and dealing with tyranny, now that it is impossible to do the above, as a Hong Kong man, what I can resist in my position is to continue speaking for Hong Kong and let the world continue listening to the people of Hong Kong fighting In the air of freedom elsewhere, in exchange for the freedom of expression that the people of Hong Kong deserve, take the dominance of speech in Hong Kong into the hands of the regime and join brothers exiles like A Cong to expand Hong Kong’s international front. “
“I have a personal insistence: exile is not an immigration. I will never emigrate and I will never be able to put down roots elsewhere. My home is only Hong Kong. This is one of the reasons why I did not apply for asylum in any country. I would rather Wander, waiting for the day to go home. I have decided that I will definitely come home and hug everyone in tears in Hong Kong after recovery. “
During his stay in Denmark, Xu Zhifeng met with local MPs and accepted interviews with the local media. He called on European countries, including Denmark, to follow the example of the United States, sanction the human rights violations in Hong Kong and provide Hong Kong protesters with a “safe haven from fear of the CCP.”
“Since I entered politics, I never thought that one day I could go to jail, but democracy is very fragile. It is the responsibility of all those who support democracy in the world to face this crisis together,” he told the Associated Press, “yes. the democratic field cannot work together Stand up and we will fall together. “
Uffe Elbaek, a member of the Danish opposition parliament who has been following Hong Kong’s problems, told local media that Xu Zhifeng went to the local area to discuss the issue of the Hong Kong protests and that climate change activities were just “cover-ups”.
The Hong Kong establishment and the media questioned that his trip was in violation of the National Security Law.
Image source,Reuters
Xu Zhifeng (right) faced 9 charges and the court allowed him to leave the country.
Xu Zhifeng and others
Xu Zhifeng was born and raised in Hong Kong and studied law. In 1999, he joined the Hong Kong Democratic Party. In 2011, he began to become a district councilor. In 2016, he served as a member of the Legislative Council. In the Legislative Council, he voiced his demands in a more fierce manner, and was also called the “Chong Chong” in parliament, the “Democratic Party Reformer” or the “radical Sven”.
One Democrat who did not want to be named said the Democratic Party did not consider itself radical enough in the past. He and a group of relatively young party members have consistently proposed reforms to bring the Democratic Party’s decision-making closer to the radicals, creating a new line for the party. .
However, this more drastic measure was provoked by officials. In April 2018, the Legislative Council reviewed the controversial draft “co-location” of the high-speed train. He was not satisfied with the government sending people to monitor his every move and took an official from him. The Hong Kong government strongly condemned his documents and mobile phone. Former Democratic Party chair Emily Lau criticized him for his “terrorist approach” and was unfit to remain in Parliament. Xu Zhifeng publicly apologized for the incident and was eventually prosecuted, receiving a fine of HK $ 3,800 and a social service order.
In the middle of this year, the Legislative Council had many conflicts during the election of the chairman of the House Committee and the revision of the Law of the National Anthem. At a meeting in June, he put a stink bomb in the chamber.
Image source,EPA
Xu Zhifeng’s protest did not prevent the approval of the National Anthem Law.
He was charged with “use of harmful substances with the intent to harm others, mentally harm or irritate others”, “contempt”, “interference” and other crimes. The case will be tried again in February of next year. He will be released on bail, but every After arriving at the police station, the judge allowed him to leave Hong Kong for official reasons, but required that he provide the police with the itinerary no less than 72 hours after leaving Hong Kong.
He was a member of the Legislative Council close to the masses during the “anti-dispatch” movement. He once filed a lawsuit against a police officer who shot protesters in the Sai Wan River on November 11 last year and demanded the release of tear gas. He also appeared on the parade scene, standing between the police and the protesters, and tried a riot police officer who removed the blindfold and pepper sprayed him at point-blank range.
Luo Guancong, a Hong Kong social activist in exile in London, is a guest on the BBC “HARDtalk”: How do you feel about Huang Zhifeng staying in Hong Kong?
However, it was also provoked by officials. On July 6 last year, during a demonstration in Tuen Mun, he was accused of asking others to erase the contents of his mobile phone. He was charged with “attempting to obstruct justice.” The case will go to trial in January of next year. On June 12 this year, when citizens launched a “reverse delivery” protest, he was dragged into an alley at the scene to search his body and arrested on suspicion of committing an “illegal assembly”.
During the interview, he revealed that he had tried to be arrested three times a month and that his wife often woke up when she heard the television bell in her sleep, and was often asked by her children’s classmates if their father would go to school. jail and treat his family. Cause a lot of pressure.
In November this year, in accordance with the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the Hong Kong government announced that four pro-democracy members had lost their seats and members of the pan-democracy collectively resigned, including Xu Zhifeng. .
When interviewed by the Hong Kong media, he said that the biggest benefit of the Legislative Council’s four years of work was walking with the Hong Kong people in the anti-review movement. He did not have a deep experience in the Legislative Council, but the experience in the streets made him feel more. Become the representative of the people. He said at the time that future work hopes to focus on bridging the distance between traditional Democrats and protesters, and he also hopes the Democratic field will think about how to make changes in a narrow space.
Looking back at the many controversies he was involved in and the criminal responsibilities he faced, he said that “citizens have their own justice” and “are worthy of their conscience.” He hopes that citizens will see his contribution.
