Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen denies ‘using’ Hong Kong protests for election

She says Taiwan has always had a supportive attitude towards Hongkongers taking to the streets to fight for democracy

Remarks follow criticism from her main rival in next month’s vote and from Baptist University student leader

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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is seeking re-election in January. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:44pm, 10 Dec 2019Updated: 7:44pm, 10 Dec 2019

Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday said she was not “using” the anti-government protests in Hong Kong for electoral purposes, following criticism from her main opponent in next month’s presidential vote and from a Hong Kong student leader.

The protests in the city have been widely covered in democratic Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its sacred territory, and are frequently mentioned by Tsai and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on the campaign trail as a warning on the potential dangers Taiwan faces from mainland China.

Writing on his Facebook page over the weekend, Keith Fong Chung-yin, president of the Hong Kong Baptist University Student Union, said the DPP only verbally supported the protests and had not enacted specific laws to support the protesters.

People would inevitably suspect that the DPP “only wants to exchange Hongkongers’ sacrifices for Taiwanese people’s votes”, he added.

Baptist University Student Union president Keith Fong said Taiwan’s ruling DPP only verbally supported the protesters. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Tsai’s main opponent in the January 11 presidential election, Han Kuo-yu from the Kuomintang party which favours close ties with the mainland, wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday that Tsai was using Hong Kong as a “tool” for votes.

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