Taichung's Lennon Tunnel has become a time capsule for anti-extradition protesters, who hope to turn it into a Taiwanese democracy landmark.

 

This year marks the sixth anniversary of the Hong Kong anti-extradition movement. No commemorative events can be held in Hong Kong, and no traces of the protests remain on the streets. Hong Kong groups in Taiwan, in addition to holding commemorative parades, are also working to preserve the Lennon Wall in a pedestrian tunnel in Taichung and are planning to add another Lennon Wall in Taipei. This station interviewed Hong Kong exiles who maintain the Lennon Wall in Taiwan to discuss its significance and why they are so crucial.

Tsai Chih-hao, a protester who participated in the storming of the Legislative Council and organized a supply station during the 2019 anti-extradition movement and was wounded by a bean bag, now living in exile in Taiwan, has met the five-year residency requirement in Taiwan and recently officially became a Taiwanese citizen. While this change of identity marks a fresh start in life, it doesn't mean he's forgotten the anti-extradition movement six years ago or his longing for Hong Kong. Tsai said the Lennon Wall in the Taichung pedestrian tunnel and at National Chengchi University are where he finds memories in Taiwan. He admitted that every time he sees the anti-extradition propaganda and messages of support for Hong Kong on the Lennon Wall, he feels a surge of emotion, recalling unforgettable pain, and feels grateful that the Lennon Wall is preserved in Taiwan. He believes that preserving the Lennon Wall represents that Hong Kong people's commitment to democracy in 2019 has not been forgotten.

Cai Zhihao said, "As a protester, I'm very happy to still see the Lennon Wall in Taiwan, and that people are still willing to maintain it and allow people visiting Taiwan to visit it. This shows that there are still people who remember the 2019 anti-extradition movement and the efforts Hong Kong people have made for democracy. This place (Lennon Wall) is not only for us (Hong Kong people) to remember, because in Hong Kong there are too many things that cannot be said, too many memories that cannot be recalled. Some of my Hong Kong friends will make a special trip to the Lennon Wall in Taichung when they come to Taiwan, leaving a note to say what they couldn't say in Hong Kong. It's a sad reality that we have to do in other places what Hong Kong once did. But being able to rediscover the past that has been erased and sealed in Hong Kong in Taiwan is a kind of spiritual reparation."