Hong Kong refugees captured at sea spent months plotting daring dash to freedom
< < Go Back
Reaching Taiwan would mean traversing Chinese territorial waters that surround Hong Kong. Hours after they embarked from the verdant Sai Kung Peninsula on the morning of Aug. 23, their speedboat was seized by China’s Guangdong coast guard bureau about 50 miles southeast of their departure point. It was the first public admission by Chinese authorities that they had intercepted people fleeing Hong Kong in this manner, although since late last year others have attempted maritime escapes to Taiwan, which tacitly allowed them in.
Since at least November, boats have been sailing from Hong Kong to Taiwan, ferrying protesters arrested in Hong Kong’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. More than 9,000 people were arrested by the end of June, and more than a dozen have been arrested since then under the new national security law that Beijing imposed on the city. Most of those arrested are young, and many are students.
More From The Washington Post (subscription required):
Rss Feed