Hongkongers in Taiwan report harassment by Chinese tourists

Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) A group of Hong Kong residents giving public speeches in support of the city's pro-democracy movement in Taipei on Tuesday evening said they were harassed by two Chinese tourists.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the group, dubbed the "Oct. 1 Action Team," said while its members were preparing to make speeches in Taipei's shopping district of Ximending, they were disrupted by two individuals who claimed to be Chinese tourists.

One of the duo abruptly threw the group's flag printed with the protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times (光復香港 時代革命)" on the ground, the statement said.

The flag, which has since been banned in Hong Kong, is symbolic of the anti-government protests that roiled the former British colony in 2019.

"Today is China's National Day, and I will not allow this kind of flag to be displayed here," the Chinese tourist said, according to video clips released by the group and Radio Free Asia.

In addition, Oct. 1, 2019 marked the first time a Hong Kong protester was wounded by live ammunition of the city's law enforcement, further escalating the increasingly violent confrontations between the two sides.

The video clips also showed the tourist bickering with what appears to be participants of the speech until a policeman intervened and took the duo away from the scene.

In its statement, the group decried the Chinese tourist for forcefully disrupting the event for which it had obtained Taiwanese authorities' permission to hold and rejected his claim that "both Taiwan and Hong Kong are part of China."

Taiwan is a country where freedom and diverse values are respected, but the tourist "showed no regard for other people" and "forcefully violated others' rights," the statement said.

Such behavior is "the worst example of abusing freedom," the group said in the statement, adding that it would remain undeterred and continue to call for freedom and democracy.

Radio Free Asia reported that approximately 30 people took part in the event organized by individual Hong Kong people and an informal group called the Hong Kong Outlanders.