Fleeing Hong Kong activists rescued from drifting boat

A boat carrying democracy activists fleeing Hong Kong has been rescued by the Taiwan coastguard and taken to the island.

The speedboat on which Hong Kong activists were caught by the Chinese coastguard as they made for Taiwan on August 22.

A boat carrying democracy activists fleeing Hong Kong has been rescued by the Taiwan coastguard and taken to the island.

Those on board included one person who had been charged with rioting and another wanted for storming the city’s parliament.

Chinese authorities said last week that its navy had seized a speedboat from Hong Kong carrying 12 protesters across the Taiwan Strait, suggesting that Hongkongers were beginning to flee the territory and the anti-protest law imposed by Beijing.

Taiwanese newspaper The China Times said the coastguard intercepted the boat carrying five people in late July but that the incident was suppressed by the government because of its sensitivity.

President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan has shown support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, inflaming an already poor relationship with Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own and has threatened invasion.

According to Taiwanese media the five Hong Kong protesters had tried to flee in a boat but ran out of fuel while at sea. Their vessel had drifted to the Pratas Islands, which are claimed by China, before it was picked up. The protesters are believed to have been settled in Kaohsiung, a large port city in the south of the island.

The Times