The article I want to talk about today was published in The Guardian on the 25th of May

And has the title: “Taiwan promises support for Hong Kong's people as China tightens grip”.

You probably heard about this but Beijing declared that they want to implement some “security laws” to Hong Kong.

They have threatened with this for a while now and Hong Kong has always responded by going on the streets and protesting

Recently, because of the whole situation with Covid-19 it is not recommended to gather in big crowds

It looks like China might have taken this in their advantage to push their political agenda forward.

Taiwan promises 'support' for Hong Kong's people as China tightens grip

The article is quite long so I will put a link to the article in the description so you can go ahead and read it fully if you want.

I picked out some of the important parts and I am going to read that to you now.

“President Tsai Ing-wen pledges 'necessary assistance' after a resurgence in protests against newly proposed security legislation from Beijing.

Taiwan will provide the people of Hong Kong with “necessary assistance”, President Tsai Ing-wen has said,

after a resurgence in protests in the Chinese-ruled territory against newly proposed national security legislation from Beijing.

Taiwan has become a refuge for a small but growing number of pro-democracy protesters fleeing Hong Kong,

which has been convulsed since last year by protests.”

I remember, last year when I was in Taiwan protests were going on very strongly in Hong Kong

One of my best friends who was studying there (in Hong Kong) came to stay with me for a while in Taiwan

Because the situation in Hong Kong was not safe anymore.

Our university in Belgium asked her to get out of Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of people who rallied on Sunday

to protest against Beijing's plan to impose national security laws on the city.

Writing on her Facebook page late on Sunday, Tsai said the proposed legislation was a serious threat to Hong Kong's freedoms and judicial independence.

Bullets and repression are not the way to deal with the aspirations of Hong Kong's people for freedom and democracy, she added.

“In face of the changing situation, the international community has proactively stretched out a helping hand to Hong Kong's people,” Tsai wrote.

Taiwan will “even more proactively perfect and forge ahead with relevant support work,

and provide Hong Kong's people with necessary assistance,'” she wrote.

Taiwan has no law on refugees that could be applied to Hong Kong protesters who seek asylum on the island.

Its laws do promise, though, to help Hong Kong citizens whose safety and liberty are threatened for political reasons.

China believes Tsai to be a “separatist” bent on declaring the island's formal independence.

Tsai says Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.

I do not know what you think about this, but I think it is pretty sad that people in Hong Kong are forced between:

1. Their health and staying inside 2. Their freedom and going out to protest

Right now, with the Covid-19 of course it is not recommended to go out into big crowds and protest

But at the same time, they are so scared to lose their freedom.

I think it is so harsh of China to be pushing this forward right now while everybody is dealing with the Coronavirus situation.

Maybe that is exactly what they want…. They know that many people are too scared to go out and protest

That is why they might have chosen this moment. I am curious to hear what you guys think.

That is just my opinion and my thoughts. Let me know in the comments what you think.

It is time to read some of your comments concerning last weeks episode of Taiwan in the international news.

When the Netherlands recognised and changed Taiwan's representative office's name.

Chan Conooma says: “I used to go to the Belgian capital for free travel and I also like the environment over there, which is quite comfortable.”

I am so happy that you enjoyed coming to Belgium! I hope you will be back after the whole Coronavirus situation.

I would love to see more Taiwanese people visiting Belgium too!

Jjclub writes: “The consequences would be cannons frequently fired from the mouths of Chinese officials in the coming future.”

This is a reply to the question I asked: What do you think the consequences will be

Because China threatened the Netherlands that there will be consequences.

That is funny, I saw several comments saying something like “barking dogs don't bite”.

Meaning that China makes a lot of threats but usually that is the only threat there is (all the threats coming out of their mouths)

One person writes: “No matter what the consequences are, we Taiwanese will stand up, not afraid of being threatened”.

You can see the spirit of Taiwanese people right here Taiwanese are not easily intimidated I think

They had to deal with many threats for a very long time. I feel like Taiwanese people are very brave and not easily scared.

That was it for today. I am so happy you stayed until the end. You are awesome!!

Today's code word is…

Pineapple cake! If you stayed until now and you say pineapple cake in the comments, I know you watched until the end.

Thank you so much for watching!

Don't forget to “like” and “subscribe”

and I hope to see you very soon in the next episode! Bye bye ~