Hong Kong protest veterans around the world are embracing Ukraine’s cause
- Some have even travelled to Ukraine to help, including Roy Chan, a pastor wanted by Hong Kong police who moved to Britain in 2020
- Activists whose efforts were largely thwarted in Hong Kong say they feel natural kinship with Ukrainians, whose Maidan protests were a source of inspiration
On February 24, Hong Kong immigrant Fermi Wong Wai-fun caught a bus from her new home in Bristol, England, bound for a protest in London’s embassy district.
Wong, a veteran of Hong Kong’s protest movement, had moved to Britain in late 2020 amid fears of being targeted by authorities for her activism.
But her destination last month was not China’s embassy – it was Russia’s.
She said watching news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began that day had triggered a familiar sense of outrage. “It is very strange. I almost feel like I am Ukrainian … the feeling is as if it was happening in Hong Kong,” said Wong, a social worker.
Hong Kong activists around the world – from London to Vancouver, Sydney and Washington – have embraced Ukraine’s cause, attending rallies, raising money or even travelling to Ukraine to offer humanitarian aid.
They include recent immigrants from Hong Kong, like Wong, who see their support for the embattled country as a logical extension of their rejection of authoritarianism.
