Activist Joshua Wong returns safely to Hong Kong after Taiwan visit marred by multiple protests

Student activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has returned safely to Hong Kong from Taiwan after a visit marred by anti-independence protests in both cities.

“Back safe now in Hong Kong, thanks to airport security and police. Finally, there were uniformed police stationed at the arrival hall,” Wong said in a Facebook post made at midnight on Monday.

Police could not confirm whether there were protesters present at Wong’s arrival.

The activist’s safe return comes after he and several lawmakers were targets of repeated protests in the two cities over the last two weeks.

Legislator and fellow Demosisto party member Nathan Law Kwun-chung was assaulted by pro-China protesters at Hong Kong International Airport on January 8 after his return from a two-day forum in Taipei hosted by a local pro-independence political party.

Police arrested a 67-year-old woman in the Tseung Kwan O area on Monday morning on suspicion of common assault and unlawful assembly in connection to the protest, bringing the total number of arrests related to the incident to five.

After the seminar hosted by Taiwan’s pro-independence New Power Party, which Wong, Law and two other lawmakers Edward Yiu Chung-yim and Eddie Chu Hoi-dick had attended, Wong was invited to share his thoughts on Hong Kong’s democracy movement by a think tank in Taiwan.

In his Facebook post, Wong thanked Taiwan police and apologised for the inconvenience caused during his visit.
“In the future, I will definitely pay more attention to safety when I attend public or private functions in Hong Kong or overseas,” the activist said.

Wong was placed under police protection in Taiwan after 200 demonstrators from a pro-China group attempted to assault him upon his arrival at Taipei’s Taoyuan International airport.