The 19-year-old is the first student from China’s southernmost region to be granted Hong Kong citizenship
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Hong Kong’s decision to revoke the right of residence of the 19-year-old pro-democracy activist Nathan Law has also caused concern among activists in the self-ruled Taiwan.
The well-known pro-China scholar Zhang Zhijun, Hong Kong’s top election official, told Law in a letter that he cannot continue to be a Hong Kong citizen, because he has ties to Taiwan.
Zhang claimed that Hong Kong law only allows Hong Kong citizens to hold any other passport they like. He has now sent the letter to Beijing, seeking a formal explanation.
Nathan Law has reportedly been granted nationality in Taiwan. Photograph: Lucas Tannous
Li Ming-cheung, a senior official in Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, said there would be difficulty in reconciling Hong Kong and Taiwan’s laws since Hong Kong was part of China.
“Hong Kong society may stand firm on the freedom of law and courts. But the people’s perspective is very different from that of mainland China,” Li said.
Many Hong Kong people regard the Communist party in Beijing as an illegitimate government and an invading force bent on its destruction. China was not invited to democracy protests on the streets of the former British colony in 2014, and its rule is legally entrenched in a “one country, two systems” arrangement.
“I believe it’s very likely that mainland China would do something similar here [in Taiwan],” Li said.
China’s leaders have repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan. In 2013, Chinese tanks sailed close to Taiwan’s shores to counter a pro-independence rally.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said Hong Kong’s decision was lawful. The statement said Zhang’s letter had confirmed that Taiwan and Hong Kong were both part of China.
The office of Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, had no immediate comment.
The Hong Kong government has defended the move as consistent with its goal of maintaining “one country, two systems”.
Katharine Munro, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, told Reuters she feared the “simple gag” will have a chilling effect on young pro-democracy activists like Law. “This is the first time I’ve heard it in Hong Kong,” she said.
Demonstrators in Hong Kong burned a portrait of the Beijing-backed chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, on Wednesday. Reuters
Groups representing China’s small Tibetan community expressed concerns that the matter could make Tibetans more vulnerable to Beijing’s repression.
Some Tibetans have been denied entry to mainland China or imprisoned after expressing support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Occupy movement. “If there is any harm to Tibetan refugees seeking to emigrate to a third country, then Beijing will be blamed,” said Pema Gyaltsen, a Tibetan activist from Gansu.
Pro-independence supporters have also said they are fearful of interference from Beijing.
Amid rising tensions in East Asia, the increasingly nationalistic tone in Hong Kong reflects a self-confidence that government leaders there view as refreshing and, at times, transgressive.
Chinese officials have continued to warn in recent days against the provocative actions of “anti-China forces” and attacks by protesters after two activists breached barricades at the border with the neighbouring island of Macau last weekend.
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, by contrast, have pushed for compromise, asking that Hong Kong voters choose their own leader by popular vote as soon as possible and stipulating a 90-day deadline for Beijing to amend the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.