(Central News Agency, Oslo, 3rd) The Oslo Freedom Forum opened on the 1st, and former Hong Kong district councilor Carmen Lau was invited to give a keynote speech. Lau, who is currently wanted by the Hong Kong government, told CNA that the core of the democratic struggle is the pursuit of freedom and the future, not merely passive resistance against communism. She noted that the democratic resilience shown by Taiwanese society in recent years has been evident to all, and that Taiwan and Hong Kong should continue to support each other in preserving their daily culture and identity.
The Oslo Freedom Forum is held annually in Oslo, the capital of Norway, bringing together human rights defenders from around the world. Carmen Lau was one of the main speakers on the opening day. In her speech, she revealed that there are currently 1,946 political prisoners in Hong Kong, convicted for "wanting to have a say in their own future."
Lau was elected as a Hong Kong district councilor in 2019 at the age of 24, winning with the pro-democracy coalition, which took 388 of 452 seats. After the implementation of the National Security Law, Lau was forced to resign and left Hong Kong in 2021, facing multiple arrest warrants since then.
Now 31, she was issued a warrant on Christmas Eve 2024 by the Hong Kong government for violating the National Security Law, with a reward of one million Hong Kong dollars (about NT$4 million) for her capture.
In her speech, she pointed out that even while exiled in the UK, she still faces severe cross-border repression, including neighbors receiving fabricated images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) that smear women's images, using gendered psychological warfare to make victims feel isolated and uneasy in their communities.
Regarding the common discussion in Taiwanese society of "Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow Taiwan," Lau told CNA after the speech that Taiwanese people have witnessed Hong Kong's experiences and transformations since 2014, learning from the Umbrella Movement and the "Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill" protests, internalizing them as social resilience and defense mechanisms. This achievement is now recognized by the international community.
Lau emphasized that the key to democratic advocacy and struggle is a shift in thinking: "We are not just opposing something; we are actually fighting for democracy and freedom."
She stated that it is relatively easy to resist a specific enemy, but if the struggle is based solely on "opposition," once the enemy changes form or disappears, the movement can easily lose direction. Therefore, one must clearly understand what kind of future they are fighting to protect.
When asked how Taiwanese people can practically assist Hong Kongers abroad, Lau said that for the Hong Kong diaspora scattered around the world, "existence itself is a form of resistance." The most direct help Taiwan can provide is to remember and pass on their own identity and culture together with Hong Kongers, allowing the seeds of democracy to continue on free soil.
In her speech, she also called on global consumers to examine their daily behavior, warning against browsing Douyin, Xiaohongshu, or buying cheap goods from Shein, as well as products made with forced labor, which hide authoritarian algorithms and propaganda control.
Faced with a million-dollar bounty and cross-border harassment, Lau said that the motivation that sustains her in spreading "hope" comes from "people." Defending democracy is not a single-region issue, as shown at the Oslo Freedom Forum, where activists from all fields around the world each do their part. "This is not just a Hong Konger's struggle or a Taiwanese's resistance; democracy is the same, and we all converge in the end." (Editor: Tang Shengyang) 1150603
