Radio host finds home in B.C. after release from Hong Kong prison | 24CA News
Edmund Wan, just lately launched from a Hong Kong jail, says he feels comfy in Vancouver.
He described the sense of familiarity that struck him in a Hong Kong-style café on Vancouver’s Cambie Street — the odor of baked pork chops on rice, the background noise of individuals joking in Cantonese.
But there was one thing else that Wan says individuals in Hong Kong can now not take as a right — the flexibility to speak freely and with out worry in public.
Wan, 55, is best referred to as the previous Hong Kong radio character Giggs, a outstanding voice of assist for the town’s pro-democracy protest motion.
“I hear people chatting in Cantonese no matter where I go, especially in Richmond and Burnaby’s food courts where they say ‘hey’ after recognizing me,” Wan mentioned in an interview in Mandarin, by which he’s additionally fluent.
“I am fully enjoying my life in Canada.”
Wan moved to British Columbia final month after spending nearly two years in Hong Kong’s Shek Pik and Stanley prisons, having admitted to costs of sedition and cash laundering that rights group Amnesty International says had been politically motivated.
He mentioned his combat continues in Canada, as he described the plight of different supporters of the protest motion nonetheless behind bars.
“Now I am here to tell the world about their stories to remind people that they cannot be forgotten,” he mentioned.
Wan is presently in Canada together with his spouse on a vacationer visa, though he hopes to turn out to be a everlasting resident.
“I moved here because of my daughter. I haven’t been able to see her for three years. I felt blessed to be close to her now,” mentioned Wan, crying upon mentioning her.
He mentioned the previous couple of years had been powerful, however he has no regrets.
“Now I feel grateful to live here freely, to have the freedom to do whatever I want, and spend time with my family.”
Wan made his first public look in Canada on the annual Hong Kong Fair in early May in New Westminster, east of Vancouver. He was manning a stand to boost consciousness in regards to the “Hong Kong 47,” a gaggle of pro-democracy activists charged with conspiracy to subvert state energy beneath the town’s nationwide safety legislation.
Wan was surrounded by the curious and well-wishers who acknowledged him, asking about his new life and thanking him for his efforts.
Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu was amongst these at Wan’s stand.
Chiu — who has been concerned in discussions about Chinese political interference due to his perception that Chinese authorities labored towards him within the 2021 federal election — mentioned the radio host’s experiences reminded him “how lucky I am to live in Canada.”
“Even though I have been targeted by a foreign power, all I have suffered is losing my seat in the House of Commons,” Chiu mentioned. “I am still freely moving around and I can continue to speak my mind.”
Wan acquired a 32-month sentence in October 2022 after reaching a plea settlement with prosecutors, and was launched a month later on account of time served and different components.
The sedition and cash laundering costs stemmed from his assist and fundraising efforts for a gaggle of Hong Kong college students who fled to Taiwan within the wake of Hong Kong’s 2019 protest motion, and a subsequent crackdown on dissent.
Wan, a former businessman, was additionally pressured at hand over about $850,000 in belongings.
Gwen Lee, a campaigner for Amnesty International, mentioned Wan’s imprisonment highlighted how Hong Kong authorities focused critics.
“Given the Hong Kong government’s zero-tolerance approach to dissent since 2019, it is difficult to believe that his imprisonment is anything other than politically motivated,” mentioned Lee.
Wan rose to prominence as a political commentator on the impartial Hong Kong radio station D100. He turned a vocal supporter of scholar protesters who left Hong Kong for Taiwan, as authorities arrested lots of these related to the protests that originally drew huge crowds, however had been decisively stamped out by the introduction of the nationwide safety legislation in 2020. He backed a fundraiser for the youths, triggering the laundering cost.
“I tried to visit these youths after they left the city in 2019 and I found they were so helpless,” Wan mentioned. “Some of them had left their homes for the first time, they had trouble finding jobs and a few had to move around from one location to another every 30 days given their unstable financial situations.”
On Feb. 7, 2021, Wan mentioned he was woke up by a loud knocking on his door and was startled to see dozens of Hong Kong police outdoors his residence. He was handcuffed and arrested, then convicted 20 months later.
He mentioned the sense of loneliness and vulnerability made his imprisonment “extremely challenging.”
Wan mentioned he was solely given about 300 millilitres of water to drink each 12 hours.
“If you want more, you have to ask correction facility officers and negotiate with them. But most of the time they just ignore you.”
Wan mentioned he was positioned in solitary confinement for seven days when guards overheard him describing how he would mark the thirty third anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square bloodbath and honour the Chinese pro-democracy protesters who died.
“Someone visited me and asked if I have any plans for June 4 and I said although I didn’t have any candles on hand, (instead) I would light up three matches,” mentioned Wan. “Then I was locked into confinement after they overheard our conversation.”
He mentioned imprisoned younger protesters gave him hope as he served his sentence.
“I sometimes cried alone and they called me Uncle Giggs, tried to cheer me up and make me laugh,” mentioned Wan. “They gave me so much strength. Before all of this, I always felt I had nothing to say to the young generation in Hong Kong because of the age gap. Now I felt we share so many things in common.”
By the time he was launched final November, Wan had misplaced nearly 40 kilos.
Wan mentioned his each day life in B.C. is straightforward but enjoyable. He strolls the streets, has dim sum with members of the family, and goes to church on Sundays. But his ideas stay with supporters of the Hong Kong protests nonetheless in jail there, together with activist Joshua Wong and newspaper writer Jimmy Lai.
“I will continue to tell stories about Hong Kongers. I believe their voices shouldn’t be forgotten,” he mentioned.
He mentioned Hong Kong’s experiences ought to function a cautionary story for nations reluctant to upset China over its human rights document, and afraid of shedding financial advantages.
“Hong Kong might be a small dot on the Earth, but we would like the rest of the world to know that if you keep playing with the devil, what happened to us could also happen to you.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed May 20, 2023. This story was produced with the monetary help of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
