Hong Kong writers seeking creative freedom move to Taiwan

They relocate as they perceive the space for publishing freedoms at home has shrunk

- Yip Wai Yee Taiwan Correspondent and Magdalene Fung Hong Kong Correspondent

(ONG SOR FERN)

Originally from Hong Kong but now based in Taipei, Ms Gigi Leung furiously pokes the lemon slices in her iced tea with her spoon.

“Taiwanese people don’t do this, but I cannot drink my iced lemon tea any other way. I am from Hong Kong after all,” the writer told The Straits Times over lunch.

After living in Taiwan for four years, there are some things about her native Hong Kong that the 30-year-old misses greatly.

“Cantonese soup is another one - it actually has flavour,” she confided with a laugh.

But among the things she does like in her new home is more freedom when it comes to writing.

Ms Leung is one of a string of Hong Kong writers who have relocated to democratic Taiwan in recent years to pursue literary careers, as the space for creative and publishing freedoms is perceived to have shrunk in their home city.

This comes after Beijing imposed a sweeping National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong in 2020, which criminalises acts of secession and subversion.

Despite government claims that freedoms of speech, press, and publication are protected under the law, it has become potentially risky to write, print or sell content that could be interpreted as a threat to national security.

Hong Kong libraries have since pulled hundreds of books, such as those related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, while booksellers have avoided stocking politically sensitive works for fear of violating the law.

For instance, Ms Leanne Liu, who owns Hong Kong’s Boundary Bookstore, said her firm has taken several books off its shelves.

“We've removed books that provide direct commentaries on Hong Kong society and politics, as well as those about (Hong Kong media mogul) Jimmy Lai,” Ms Liu told ST.

Lai, founder of the city’s defunct Apple Daily newspaper and a high-profile pro-democracy activist, is in jail facing charges under the NSL.