Human Rights in Hong Kong

In June 2019, large-scale protest waves against the amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance broke out in Hong Kong. The Judicial Reform Foundation issued a statement at the very beginning of the movement, joining Taiwanese civil groups in putting forward four calls to the Mainland Affairs Council to demand the formulation of a clear asylum mechanism for Hongkongers; that same month, we mobilized Taiwanese NGOs to form human-shaped characters to show solidarity with the protests of the people of Hong Kong.

In October, the JRF formed the "Taiwan Volunteer Lawyers Group for Supporting Hong Kong Protestors" to provide legal consultations for Hongkongers arriving in Taiwan. In November, we held a joint press conference regarding the police encirclement and suppression of demonstrators at the Chinese University of Hong Kong/Hong Kong Polytechnic University, strongly condemning the violent crackdown by the Hong Kong government while calling on the Taiwanese government to elevate its diplomatic response level. In addition, partners in central Taiwan concurrently held solidarity events, demonstrating ties across various regions of Taiwan.

In May 2020, Beijing announced its intention to impose the National Security Law on Hong Kong. The JRF issued a joint statement with civic groups, emphasizing that the Hong Kong National Security Law put an end to Hong Kong's autonomy and calling on Taiwan to implement an asylum mechanism for Hongkongers. After the National Security Law officially took effect on June 30, the JRF continued to track the application of its provisions and published legal analyses, including an in-depth study on how the "bail system" in Hong Kong under the National Security Law was hollowed out.

In November of the same year, the JRF joined other international democratic camps in solidarity, jointly responding to the "Hong Kong Kaohsiung (Formosa) Incident" and pointing out that systemic political persecution in Hong Kong cannot continue under the silence of the international community. At the end of the year, we issued a statement regarding China's secret trial of 12 Hongkongers, demanding that the Taiwanese government upgrade its policies to aid Hong Kong.

The year 2021 marked the most drastic period of the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong's civil society. Police banned the Victoria Park candlelight vigil, raided the "June 4th Museum," arrested leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance, and ultimately forced the Alliance to announce its dissolution. The JRF participated in a joint statement by 62 Hong Kong and international human rights organizations, demanding that the Hong Kong government immediately drop the charges of "incitement to subvert state power" against members of the Hong Kong Alliance and impose targeted sanctions on relevant officials.

That same year, the JRF also joined domestic and international organizations in issuing statements regarding the Hong Kong government's prosecution of human rights lawyer Ch'ow Sing-t'ong and six others under the "offense of failing to comply with a notice requirement to provide information," emphasizing that this constituted a severe violation of the freedoms of speech, association, and peaceful assembly.

At a time when local freedom spaces in Hong Kong were being squeezed, Taiwan became an important base for preserving the historical memory of Hong Kong. In 2022, the JRF co-organized Hong Kong photographer Kao Chung-ming's "Era Revolution" photography exhibition, documenting the 2019 protest scenes through images; that same year, we also launched a petition concerning "British publishers revoking global censorship of songs of democracy" to resist cross-border speech censorship.

From 2023 to 2024, the "REST" Kao Chung-ming photography exhibition was exhibited in Taiwan, with a series of forums and viewing events generating widespread resonance. The Ch'ow Sing-t'ong documentary "She's in Jail" was screened in Taiwan, with over 300 participants within a week, demonstrating Taiwanese society's continuous concern for the plight of Hong Kong political prisoners. The JRF also held forums such as "Memory, Trauma, and Rebirth: How to Read Post-2019 Fictional Works" and "Image Observations Through the Lens: From Taiwan's Martial Law Era to Hong Kong's Anti-Extradition Movement," deepening dialogue on Taiwanese and Hong Kong history.

In March 2024, Article 23 of the Basic Law completed its legislation, adding another layer of legal shackles to Hong Kong alongside the National Security Law. The JRF spoke out actively around the first anniversary of the implementation of Article 23 (March 2025): holding press conferences, having lawyers speak firsthand to dissect the impact of the provisions, and participating in street actions. Attorneys Li Ming-ju and Chang Ching-ju successively published analyses on the legal impacts of Article 23, providing an in-depth legal perspective for Taiwanese society.

In June of the same year, JRF representatives participated in the "Hong Kong Freedom June 2024 Taipei March" under the theme "Defending Democracy, Taiwan and Hong Kong Walk Together," continuing to speak out for Hong Kong political prisoners. In May 2025, the JRF issued another joint statement regarding the Hong Kong government's suppression targeting the families of exiled individuals, showing that transnational repression has become a new wave of systemic human rights violations.

As exiled Hongkongers continue to face harassment and suppression in various locations, "transnational repression" has become a realistic threat that Taiwanese society must confront. In 2025, the JRF joined other human rights groups to conduct in-depth research on legal gaps in Taiwan regarding the protection of Hongkongers in Taiwan; in February 2026, we officially held the press conference "Preventing Transnational Repression: Immediately Establish Protective Mechanisms," demanding that the Taiwanese government promptly establish clear protective response mechanisms, including grievance procedures, risk assessments, and emergency response plans.

In July 2026, China officially implemented the "Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress," "codifying" political purge methods into law and attempting to unilaterally "identify Taiwanese people as Chinese" through these provisions, imposing a legal obligation to "maintain unification," thereby exposing advocates of Taiwanese sovereignty to the risk of being held accountable. The JRF made a solemn statement on this matter, calling on the Taiwanese government to swiftly establish a legalized "refugee asylum system" rather than stopping at ad-hoc rescue projects, allowing Taiwan to truly become a human rights safe haven resisting authoritarian expansion.