Former employee of the U.K. Consulate in Hong Kong, Simon Cheng made news headlines across the world one year ago, when he was detained for 15 days by Chinese authorities on a trip to mainland China. His courage to speak out on the ordeal has made him a political refugee and now a wanted criminal under a national security law Beijing imposed on the city this July.

Tailed and threatened even in Britain, where he is in exile, Cheng refuses to be a silent victim. He insists on speaking out for Hong Kong people and has established an organization to support fellow protesters who have fled abroad.

“The secret police told me they have a lot of spies and officers in Hong Kong and they can kidnap me back to China anytime. He warned me not to speak the truth.” Cheng shudders, recalling his torture and detainment by Chinese national security officers last August.

Intimidation did not deter him, however. Knowing he could only break his silence in somewhere safe, he made the hardest decision in life and fled his home.

“I was very sad and struggled to reach this decision because once I left, it could be for life,” Cheng continues. “But if I can help preserve Hong Kong’s spirit of resistance, I think it is worth it and I have no regret. I only feel sorry about needing to sever ties with my family.”

He first left for Taiwan before flying to London last November. His application was approved in June this year, making him the first Hong Kong citizen to receive political asylum in the U.K. It allows him to stay for five years, before he can apply for permanent residency and British citizenship.

“I owe a lot of thanks to the Home Office. Applications like this usually take years, but mine was processed in half a year. Unlike most cases of political asylum where applicants cannot work in the first year, I am not subjected to such restriction and I have the right to work,” says Cheng. He went through two rounds of interviews and submitted documents and evidence to prove he was and still is politically persecuted.

His successful application reveals that the British government is losing confidence in the “one country, two systems” principle.

“The Home Office initially thought Hong Kong was not under Chinese jurisdiction and even though I was persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kong still remained autonomous,” says Cheng. He cited the case of Lee Bo, a Hong Kong bookseller and a British passport holder who was abducted to mainland China, to argue that the “one country, two systems” framework no longer functions.

To Cheng, the approval of his application prior to the enactment of the national security law implies that the U.K. does not believe that the legislation is not retroactive, as claimed by the Hong Kong authorities. Political criminals are at risk of being extradited to China.

His case marks a pivotal change in how the British government views the human rights situation in Hong Kong and paves the way for other protesters like him.

However, obtaining asylum does not guarantee his personal safety, as Cheng has come to realize. Having been tailed multiple times in London, he needs to stay alert at all times to avoid being stalked.

Back in July, when meeting fellow activist-in-exile and founder of Hong Kong Indigenous Ray Wong at a train platform, Cheng caught a middle-aged Asian man trailing them.

The next day, he checked his phone after a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in London and found his name on the list of people wanted by the Hong Kong police for alleged violations of the national security law.

Cheng still remembers that moment. “I knew the CCP because I exposed them and told the truth. But I was still very shocked when I became a wanted criminal amid the escalating situation. I am not one of the activists who have long been involved in this movement or charged with different counts of crime,” Cheng says. “This is my first time bearing a political crime.”

But he has decided to carry it as a symbol of glory, a worthy price for defending Hong Kong people’s freedoms and rights.

Yet to have recovered from shock and still in the center of London, he then found himself trailed by multiple men. Finding their behaviors suspicious, he counter tracked one of them. “When he realized he was exposed, he immediately hopped on a passing bus.”

The third time he was trailed, he received a threatening email signed under the name of CY Leung. “CCP’s spies will catch you and bring you back. It is only a matter of time,” it wrote. Later that day, he caught a car following him while he was out for lunch. When he confronted the driver, the latter claimed to be an Uber driver. But when he checked his plate number, he found that the car was not registered with Transport for London or Uber.

Despite the surveillance and harassment, Cheng refuses to be intimidated. “Hong Kong people cannot voice out because of the draconian legislation. I am in an overseas country with freedom and democracy, I have the responsibility to speak up for our people.”

Most of his time in London is devoted to international advocacy. Together with Ray Wong, Lam Wing-kee, a bookseller who has fled to Taiwan, and Brian Leung, a U.S. doctoral student who stormed Hong Kong’s legislature last July, the quartet in exile founded Haven Resistance. The platform strives to support and provide information for protesters who are seeking asylum. Cheng is responsible for cases in the U.K. and receives 10-15 enquiries each day.

Cheng has also established Hongkongers in Britain, a community built for fellow émigrés to integrate into local society while preserving their own identity and culture, especially their political beliefs. This is a crucial aspect of international lobbying, he believes.

“More of the protest movement for Hong Kong’s democracy has to take place abroad since the legal space for resistance has shrunk under the new legislation. How we can connect Hong Kong people with those fighting abroad is very important.”

He is also campaigning for the idea of a shadow parliament, which gives Hong Kong citizens abroad the rights to elect their own representatives within the civil organizations. “Why would we still have hope towards a dictatorial regime? If it’s an idea the CCP fears, I believe it works and I will keep trying.”

“Leaving home is merely the beginning,” says Cheng. “I believe I will return to Hong Kong one day. I will fight against the clock and try my best to be home and reunite with my family while they are still alive,” says Cheng.

Such yearning motivates him to fight on without regret despite all the challenges and sacrifices. If he were to choose again, between the egg and the wall, he would still choose to stand on the side of Hong Kong people.

Click here for Chinese version.

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