Taiwan elections: Hong Kong protesters in Taipei celebrate Tsai Ing-wen’s election victory, hold anti-government demonstration
- Dozens of Hongkongers in Taipei use president’s victory rally as platform to champion their anti-government cause
- Tsai’s triumph declared a boost for protesters, president tells crowd ‘friends in Hong Kong will be glad’ at outcome
Hongkongers staged a protest as the crowds dispersed from a victory rally on Saturday for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, whose re-election was seen by demonstrators as a boost to the city’s anti-government movement.
Dozens of protesters chanted and waved flags after Tsai spoke to supporters outside her campaign headquarters in Taipei to mark her comfortable win in the presidential race.
Those Hong Kong activists who had travelled to Taiwan to follow the elections – billed as a referendum on the island’s relations with Beijing – celebrated Tsai’s victory, calling it a morale boost for their campaign and expressing hope she would support protesters who had fled there.
“The social atmosphere is very depressing in Hong Kong, as we cannot see how the movement could succeed,” she said in Taipei.