「すべてを奪われていた」　周庭氏、カナダで抑圧を語る

【オタワＡＦＰ＝時事】香港の民主化運動で最も著名な活動家の一人、周庭（アグネス・チョウ）氏（２７）は、民主化デモを扇動した罪などで服役した後も、「外国の工作員」の烙印を押され、パスポート（旅券）を押収され、出国を制限されていた。（写真は、カナダ・トロントからオンライン取材に応じる周庭〈アグネス・チョウ〉氏）
　今年７月、警察は香港から出る意外な方法を提示した。謝罪状を書き、治安当局者と共に中国本土の深センを訪れ、ＩＴ大手の騰訊控股（テンセント）本社などの中国の業績を見学すれば、引き換えにカナダ留学を認めるという内容だった。周氏は８月、深セン行きを決断した。
　周氏は、現在滞在しているカナダ・トロントからＡＦＰのビデオ取材に応じ、深セン行きの決断について「とても、とても怖かった」と語った。当局が約束を守るかどうかは賭けだったという。
　「弁護士にも家族にも友人にも、誰にも言わないようにと警察から言われた」
　深センでは何枚も写真を撮られ、中国の偉大さを見せてくれた治安当局者への感謝状を書くよう求められた。
　周氏は「香港のことは心から愛しているが、同時に恐怖の場所のようにも感じる」と語った。
　周氏は３日、ＳＮＳで「香港の情勢や身の安全、心身の健康を考慮した」結果、香港には戻らないと決断したと明かした。
　これに対し、香港政府トップの李家超（ジョン・リー）行政長官は５日の会見で、周氏を「生涯にわたって」追跡すると警告。警察は「寛大な対応」をしようとしていたと主張した。
　これに対し周氏は「過去３年間、寛大な対応など一切なかった。自由、日常生活、基本的人権、すべてを奪われていた」と反論。
　「（周氏が外国の工作員だという主張について）どこの国の誰の手先だというのか。中国政府が国家安全維持法（国安法）や香港の法制度を、反体制派を中傷し弾圧するための政治的道具として利用しているにすぎないのは明らかだ」と批判した。
　周氏は香港滞在時、カナダ留学の詳細、長年の民主化運動への後悔などさまざまな文書を書くよう求められた。
　書状には、ひな型があった。「印刷された見本があって、私はただそれを手書きで写した」
　重要なのは、二度と民主化運動に参加しないと誓わされたことだ。
　中国当局は、ノーベル平和賞を受賞した故・劉暁波氏ら民主活動家の信用を失墜させるために、文章やテレビ画像で後悔を語らせることを長年、常とう手段としている。
　「沈黙していたら、いつかこうした写真や文書が、愛国心の証拠として利用されてしまうだろう」と周氏は懸念する。「私はただ世界に伝えたい。それは真実ではない。強要されたものだ」
　周氏は、中国政府が権威主義的な統治を強める香港で２０１２年、１４年、１９年に若者が起こした抗議活動の中心メンバーの一人。１９年には、香港の警察本部前で行われた抗議集会への参加を扇動した罪などに問われ、約７か月間、服役した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/12/08-16:58）

Agnes Chow was trapped in Hong Kong, had her passport seized and was branded a foreign agent after years as one of the city's most prominent democracy activists.
Then, she said, police offered her an unexpected way out.
Pen a letter of repentance and travel to mainland China to view the headquarters of tech giant Tencent and other Chinese achievements -- and in exchange, she would be allowed to study in Canada.
A leading voice in 2012, 2014 and 2019 protests against Beijing's increasingly authoritarian rule in Hong Kong, Chow was jailed for seven months until 2021 and remained in legal limbo with a charge of collusion hanging over her head.
It was very, very scary, the 27-year-old said of her decision to travel with Hong Kong security officers to the mainland city of Shenzhen in August, gambling that the authorities would keep their side of the bargain.
I was told by the police not to tell any people... not my lawyer, not my family, not any of my friends, she told AFP in a video call from Toronto, where she broke her years-long silence this week to say she will jump bail and remain in Canada.
After her trip to Shenzhen, where she was repeatedly photographed, Chow was told to write another letter thanking the officers for showing her the greatness of China.
About a month later, authorities returned her passport and allowed her to fly to Canada.
But the terms of Chow's bail still required her to return periodically to Hong Kong, where she no longer felt safe.
I love Hong Kong so much but at the same time...I feel like Hong Kong for me is also a place of fear, she told AFP.
In a social media post on Sunday, Chow revealed that she would remain indefinitely in Canada, citing the situation in Hong Kong, my personal safety, my physical and mental health.
In response, Hong Kong's government vowed to pursue her for life.
In a press briefing Tuesday, Hong Kong leader John Lee said police had been trying to give lenient treatment to Chow.
But the former activist refuted that notion.
For the past three years, there was nothing lenient... My freedom, my daily life, and my basic rights were all deprived, she said.
Foreign agent of whom? Which country? Obviously we can see that the government is just using the national security law or the legal system of Hong Kong as a political tool to smear and to suppress political dissidents.
- Template for repentance ?
Following the massive, sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests in 2019, authorities have clamped down on activists like Chow.
Dozens of people have been charged under a sweeping national security law Beijing imposed in 2020, including pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai and campaigner Joshua Wong.
Stranded in Hong Kong and unable to find steady work because of her criminal record, Chow said the most she could do was to stay at home and to cry and to wait.
When she received an offer from a postgraduate program in Canada early this year, she asked the police to return her passport.
They asked her to write a series of letters -- first detailing her travel request and then repenting for her years of activism.
They had a template. What I had to do was just to copy what they typed in my handwriting, she said, adding that she was asked to express regret for her participation in the pro-democracy movement.
In the letter, she had to say she wanted to change her life and focus on the future in Canada, she recalled.
Crucially, she was made to vow she would not get involved in activism again.
Repentance letters and televised confessions have long been used by Chinese authorities to discredit dissidents, including the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who was forced to deny having seen China's military kill democracy protesters in the deadly 1989 crackdown.
If I keep silent, maybe one day these photos and letters would become evidence of my patriotism, Chow said.
And I just want to tell the world: It's not true. I was forced to do so.