Taipei: One of the most prominent voices in Taiwan's pro-democracy Sunflower Movement says Beijing's handling of Hong Kong's protests has reinforced the Taiwanese will for political separation from China.
Legal scholar Huang Kuo-chang said Beijing's gradual rollback of democracy in Hong Kong "increases our determination to become a truly independent country".
"There is no doubt that China is the biggest threat to our democracy right now," said Professor Huang, who participated in the occupation of Taiwan's parliament in March and April. The Sunflower Movement occupation was prompted by fears that Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang Party was effectively pushing through a trade deal that would hamper the independence of the self-governed island.
Professor Huang 's comments come ahead of expected talks between Hong Kong's mostly student activists and the city government, aimed at ending the impasse over the city's political autonomy.
Hong Kong's experience with mainland China since the region was handed over by Britain in 1997 shows Beijing can't be trusted, said Professor Huang, who works at the government-sponsored Academia Sinica.
"The Communist Party of China did not keep the promise they made in 1984 when they signed the agreement with England [promising Hong Kong's autonomy]," said Professor Huang. "Why should we believe the Beijing government won't breach any agreement signed with our government?"
Taiwan's government has entered into a series of agreements with Beijing in recent years, with Taipei pledging to pursue economic co-operation rather than political dialogue.
In the past decade, as China has grown and become stronger, its leverage has increased, including, some suspect, over Taiwan's ruling KMT Party.
In light of Bejing's recent tussle with Hong Kong's citizens, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou insisted last week his island would not be "another Hong Kong". Taiwanese government officials stress that, unlike Hong Kong, the island maintains its own external affairs, military and sovereignty.
Washington-based David Yang, who tracks Chinese politics for research group IHSGlobal Insight, said the Sunflower Movement protests reflected a deep feeling of popular opinion in Taiwan.
"It would be a serious misjudgment of Taiwanese society to dismiss them as a marginal minority of extremists," he said.
But Taiwanese and Hong Kong pro-democracy movements are headed in different directions. Those in Taiwan enjoy the "prospect of extracting fundamental concessions from the KMT government", he said, while "in Hong Kong there really is no prospect of the protesters getting their current demands met".
Activists in both places are already communicating with each other, said Professor Huang, who, along with Sunflower Movement student leaders Lin Fei-fan and Chen Wei-ting were prevented from travelling to Hong Kong in June.
Despite the interference from Beijing, pro-democracy activists in Taiwan today make no effort to hide their online communication from the prying eyes of authorities, he said.
"We do everything in public – our actions, our statements, our movements are all conducted in public," he said. "Because if we believe in democracy, it doesn't make sense" to rely on secrecy as governments do.
Chris Zappone travelled to Taiwan as a guest of the Taiwanese government.
