“Liberate Hong Kong; Revolution of Our Times,” the allegedly secessionist flag proclaims.

For the past year, such flags have been a feature of Hong Kong-related protests in Vancouver, home to a large diaspora population. But the introduction of Hong Kong’s new national security laws on July 1 has raised the stakes for flag-waving protesters who now weigh the risks of prosecution should they ever return to the city.

Another Vancouver protester, asking to be called “Wah”, waves a different banner of the Hong Kong democracy movement, the black bauhinia flag that is based on the official red-and-white flag of the territory.

He too fears arrest should he return to Hong Kong to see his mother, in her 90s and suffering from late-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

The activist’s family worries about him so much that he no longer tells them when he protests. He wears a mask, sunglasses and a hat to conceal his identity.

Albert Chan Wai-yip, a former pro-democracy legislator in Hong Kong who retired to Vancouver about three years ago, has been waving black protest flags for a decade.

Unlike Wah and Jessica, Chan doesn’t worry about being identified while waving his black bauhinia outside the Chinese consulate general and at other protests in Vancouver. That’s because he has no plans to return to Hong Kong.

“I would be arrested there. I am certain of that,” he said.

The security laws – which were imposed by Beijing without a Hong Kong consultation process – criminalise acts or incitement of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers in Hong Kong. But they also criminalise such behaviour anywhere else in the world, regardless of whether the alleged offender is a resident of Hong Kong.

That provision is foremost in the minds of some protesters in Vancouver, particularly in light of the approach taken by police in Hong Kong, where protesters have been arrested under the new laws for showing material with what the force called Hong Kong independence “slogans”.

Those included stickers bearing the word “conscience”, and “Resist Beijing Liberate Hong Kong”, as well as caricatures of Chinese President Xi Jinping made to resemble the coronavirus.

In a late-night briefing on the eve of the law coming into force, police had been told by the Hong Kong Department of Justice that flags and banners calling for independence, liberation or revolution would be illegal.

The four crimes covered by the security law all carry maximum life sentences, although the suggested sentence for some minor offences is up to three years in jail.

The first person charged under the laws was Tong Ying-kit, who allegedly rode his motorcycle into a group of police on July 1 while flying the “Liberate Hong Kong” black flag. He has been charged with terrorism and inciting secession.

Jessica, who moved from Hong Kong to Vancouver in the 1980s but declined to give her age, was waving the same black flag outside the Chinese consulate in Vancouver on July 1.

Hundreds took part in that rally, marching up Granville Street in heavy rain to shout slogans and listen to speeches outside the diplomatic compound, where a security camera hangs over the wall and swivels back and forth during such protests.

Her nervousness discussing her activities in a phone interview was palpable. She confirmed her identity as a black-flag waver by taking a photo of her flag, arranged in a certain way that was agreed with the South China Morning Post. The picture was then forwarded to a second person, who took a screenshot of the picture before forwarding it to the Post.

Jessica said she never waves the black flag without wearing a face mask. Nor does she share pictures of herself holding the flag on social media, although she is otherwise vocal about her political views.

Asked why she was so cautious, she sighed and said “China is not behaving like a normal country”.

Jessica said she bought her “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times” flag on Amazon.

What does the slogan mean to her?

“I want Hong Kong to be what it was supposed to be, under the idea of ‘one country, two systems’,” she said. She called the idea of Hong Kong independence an “invention” by the former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying and Beijing, originally intended to demonise the Hong Kong “umbrella movement” pro-democracy protests in 2014.

“Before that, no one even talked about it [independence] … No one used to need to wave this kind of flag. It’s just that China and CY Leung created this situation,” she said. “If Hong Kong was more normal like before there would be no need. Now it’s not normal.”

But Jessica said she now supported Hong Kong independence “as an option” for the city.

She said that she would continue to wave the black flag, but that the protest movement in Vancouver was changing: “There is ‘white terror’ going on right now, in the whole community,” she said, alluding to suppression of political dissent. “The CCP influence has deeply penetrated Canadian society.”

Jessica said she travelled regularly to Hong Kong and planned to do so after the pandemic.

But she worried she had already been identified by authorities. “I wear a mask but besides the flag, I do express myself about the situation in Hong Kong. I’m a Canadian, so I don’t think that’s a problem. But the flag – that is probably a problem, so I do not put it up [on social media].”

Jessica said she had family in Hong Kong, but they did not know she waved the black flag. “I don’t tell them. They’d just worry about me.”

‘Now it feels like the CCP is winning’

Wah, a veteran of Hong Kong’s protest movements who is now nearing retirement age, has been keeping secrets from his family too.

He has been waving the black bauhinia at protests across Metro Vancouver, including recent rallies in Richmond and outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

“I always carry the flag with me in my car,” he said with a grim laugh. “Just in case. It’s my icon.”

He said the black flag meant that Hong Kong was undergoing a “dark age”: “Things have been inverted. Democracy has gone dark. Life is twisted.”

Interviewed by phone, he confirmed his identity by sending a photo of himself with the flag; he was masked and wore sunglasses, but was in a setting prearranged with the Post. 

Wah moved to Vancouver in 1993, and before the pandemic he was a frequent traveller back to Hong Kong, where relatives including his ailing mother still live. He attended protests in Hong Kong too, and gave speeches.

Now his wife and children in Vancouver worry that his identity will be exposed.

“But I feel these things from the bottom of my heart. Some people cannot do these things, but I can do them … so how can I not?” said Wah, his voice cracking before he suppressed the emotion with another chuckle.

“They worry about me getting arrested in Hong Kong, or even harassed here in Vancouver. They go against my appearing at the rallies. So now I just don’t tell them.” He paused, then laughed again.

He didn’t used to be so careful about protecting his identity. Wah recalled protesting outside the Vancouver consulate – unmasked – in 2013, when he said men emerged from the compound and started videoing the protesters’ faces and following them. He also suspected his phone calls had been monitored.

“Back then, I was aggressive. But now it feels like the CCP is winning. They have so many people around us,” he said.

He wanted to return to Hong Kong to care for his mother, who is in what he called the terminal stage of Alzheimer’s.

“But I was advised by many peers not to go. I plan to go but I might be caught, I don’t know what will happen …” he said, his voice trailing off.

He said he still hadn’t decided whether to take the risk.

Wah said he rested his hopes for the Hong Kong protest movement on international pressure convincing Beijing to change its approach to the city.

He struggled to define his emotions when he waved the black flag. It didn’t feel criminal, he said.

“I don’t know. Maybe I inspire people. Most times, I cannot hold back my tears. I wave the flag, I sing the song. I cry,” he said, referring to the protest anthem, Glory to Hong Kong.

‘I’d definitely be one of the people targeted’

Albert Chan, 65, has not been back to Hong Kong since exiting the fractious political arena there and opting for a quieter life in Vancouver, where the former legislator plays ping-pong and spends time with his granddaughters.

But he is still a protester, easily identifiable at pro-democracy rallies with his burly frame as he waves a black bauhinia flag.

“The law is a catastrophic situation for so many Hongkongers [in Vancouver] who spoke out about China,” said Chan by phone. “I don’t think they will be going back to Hong Kong at this time.”

Chan said he was the first person in Hong Kong to use the black bauhinia flag, which he said he and a designer friend devised about 10 years ago. It replaces the red background of the official Hong Kong flag with black; other, more recent versions show the central white bauhinia flower withering or dripping blood.

“This indicates that Hong Kong democracy is in a dark age … at that time we were the most radical group in Hong Kong. I was being pepper-sprayed back in 2011, arrested numerous times in those years,” said Chan, who was a legislator in Hong Kong for a total of 22 years between 1991 and 2016.

Chan said he also cheered the message of the “Liberate Hong Kong” flag.

“It means we won’t give up, we will continue to fight for universal suffrage. We want changes. Simple reforms are not enough. We want a holistic change of the system. Take out all the functional constituencies,” he said, referring to the profession and interest-based electorates that choose 30 of Hong Kong’s 70 legislative seats.

“One person, one vote for chief executive. We don’t want China to manipulate and control Hong Kong.”

And as for the concept of “one country, two systems”?

“Well, if there is genuine ‘one country two systems’, we can accept that. I accept the social contract concept, agreed upon in 1984, the Sino-British Joint Agreement. But if China is violating that agreement? Then Hong Kong people have the right to overthrow the Chinese government.”

It is a sentiment that risks an accusation of subversion under Article 22 of the new security law, which bans actions with a view to “overthrowing the body of central power of the People’s Republic of China”.

Chan said the provision that covered alleged offences committed outside Hong Kong was intended to frighten overseas Hongkongers out of protesting. And it was working to some extent, he said; some protesters were “becoming more discreet”.

As for Chan, he said he would keep protesting, although he doubted he would ever be able to show his face in Hong Kong any time soon.

“It’s sad. For myself, that I can’t go back with my daughter, my granddaughter, to see this place? Hong Kong is a lovely place. We have so many memories. It’s a tragic situation,” he said.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment on this article.

The Hongcouver blog is devoted to the hybrid culture of its namesake cities: Hong Kong and Vancouver. All story ideas and comments are welcome. Connect with me by email [email protected] or on Twitter, @ianjamesyoung70.