Issue Briefing No. 77

Empowering Hong Kong: Journeyof Community Building andStruggle for Freedom
Interviewer and writer: Sulastri(Master’s student, School of International and Public Policy, HitotsubashiUniversity)
August 22, 2024

*This paper was written based on an interview conducted on March 27, 2024.

Freedom of assembly and expression havebeen restricted in Hong Kong as the aftermath fromthe Umbrella Movement Protest in 2014 and theanti-extradition bill protests in 2019. The National
Security Law of 2020 imposed further restricted
freedoms, causing great concern among many both
inside and outside Hong Kong. Among them is Ms.
Tanaka.
Initially uninvolved in politics and with abackground in business, Ms. Tanaka was drawn into
themovement

whenshefelt

theremust

besomething wrong in Hong Kong for the Umbrella Movement to happen. Hong
Kong people do not want to be led by the Chinese government and there is
obviously a lot of difference between Hong Kong and China. But it feels like
China wants to make Hong Kong the same as China, for instance by changing
the education system, and the citizens are not comfortable with thisdirection.
Ms. Tanaka was living in Japan when the protest in 2019 happened

1Empowering Hong Kong: Journey of Community Building and Struggle for Freedom

Issue Briefing No. 77
and she understood that “People need to act, and we need foreign countries
to push back to Hong Kong to change the situation. Hong Kong is so small,
we understand that we have to get foreign countries’ support.” After she
had lived in Japan for four years, Ms. Tanaka and her colleagues started togather groups of Hongkongers to hold demonstration and campaigns about
Hong Kong democracy. At the time, it was unthinkable that the movement
would go on for so long. There were already two million people on the street
and the government was just ignoring the situation.
Community Building for Hongkongers
With her colleagues, she began the Japan Hong Kongers Association.
The association conducts many campaigns about Japanese culture aimed atcreating bridges between the Hong Kong people with the Japanese andmerging them into the community. People sometimes wonder what makes
someone want to get involved in activism like this; or they question thewisdom of bringing the other countries’ issues to their own country. “That isour job and that is why we need to do our activities in Japan, because wewant to change their minds. The strength of the Japanese system makes it
the most democratic country in the East Asia and even in the whole of Asia.
So not only for Hong Kong, but also for the other countries in Asia as well,
Japan should take its role as leader of democracy.”
Japan and Hong Kong have avery strong cultural connection: a lot ofHongkongers have a great love forJapan, and Japan on its side oftencheers for Hong Kong. For example, atthe very beginning of the movement,
therewasastreet

demonstration

attended by a thousand people, whichwasalreadyhuge

ifwelookatpopulation numbers. Learning about
this show of support, the Hong Kong
people were super happy to know thatin the country they love, there were a thousand people on the street
supporting them. The involvement of the Japanese locals was especiallynotable if we compare with other countries, even the UK which has a large
Hong Kong population. But in Japan, forty to fifty percent of the protest
participants were Japanese people. Thus, the community is more supportive
here, especially in Tokyo.

2Empowering Hong Kong: Journey of Community Building and Struggle for Freedom

Issue Briefing No. 77
It is not easy for Hong Kong people to blend with society when theyfirst come to Japan. Hong Kong people are quiet, they are very independent.
Unlike the overseas citizen or diaspora of other countries, they do not always
group together. Since 2019, nevertheless, more Hong Kong people have beendrawn to meet with other Hongkongers to express their feelings about whatis happening back at home, and then also to talk about their new life in Japan.
Obviously, as there are more Hong Kong people moving to Japan, so also are
there more people who have been involved in the movement. “We think ofour target, which is to preserve the Hong Kong culture. We want to havesocial gatherings for Hong Kong people and bridge the Japanese with theHong Kong people.”
The organization offers Cantonese classes for Japanese individuals
who are keen to learn due to their exposure to Hong Kong movies and musicfrom the 80s and 90s. The goal is to bridge language barriers and facilitate
cultural exchange. This initiative not only teaches Cantonese but also fosters
opportunities for participants to practice both languages through various
activities. “Hong Kong people’s adeptness at connecting with othercountries or political organizations overseas is a concern for mainland China,
leading to a desire on their part to strongly control Hong Kong people abroad
more than in mainland China itself. They want to affect civil society, not onlyfrom the government but also from the underground to the surface. As thegovernment has learned from history, they will prevent all democratic
inclination in Hong Kong and maintain firm control.”People often do not understand why we are
involved in this kind of struggle, says Anna Tanaka,
and not only people who are close to us, but people
in general. They will ask why we are bringing theissue of Hong Kong to Japan. But as the results
demonstrate that our continued action has been
helpingthelives of otherpeople,

especially

Hongkongers, people begin to understand and evengive us support.
“Our group isn't focused on politics, buthaving members gives us a strong voice foradvocacy. Because we have our organization, we can stand up for
Hongkongers in Japan when we need to advocate for them. Here we develop
what we want to do, you have the community, and it is up to the community
to think about what you are going to do next. I believe that is what ademocratic system is.”3Empowering Hong Kong: Journey of Community Building and Struggle for Freedom

Issue Briefing No. 77

Anna Tanaka Profile
Anna Tanaka, born and raised in Hong Kong, pursued her university
education in the UK and the US before gaining professional experience in
the international business sector. Originally based in Hong Kong, sherelocated to Japan in 2015. Since 2019, she has been organizing democratic
activities for Hong Kong within Japan. Recognizing the significance offostering a community among the Hong Kong diaspora in Japan, she cofounded the Japan Hongkongers Association in 2020 with Hong Kong people
residing in Japan.

4Empowering Hong Kong: Journey of Community Building and Struggle for Freedom