Two protesters who spoke to RFA ahead of Taiwan's presidential and legislative election on Saturday said the island is a source of political hope and inspiration as its 19 million voters gear up to exercise their democratic rights at the weekend. But they also fear that people there have become complacent, and may—like Hong Kong—soon have their rights and freedoms eroded under constant political pressure from China.
They also face more urgent concerns in their own lives, as they fear to return home and must now forge new lives for themselves in a strange place. "My current plan is to work in Taiwan and stay here for a long time," one former frontline protester from Hong Kong told RFA in a recent interview. "I need to find a place to carry on with my life, because I don't think I can go back to Hong Kong," said the protester, who gave only a pseudonym Jero.
