“Beyond Borders, Beyond Hatred: A Collective Stand for Freedom”
Speech by Alric Lee
Executive Director, Lady Liberty Hong Kong
9th World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet (WPCT)
Session 8: Building Common Ground to Confront Common Challenges
June 4, 2025 – House of Representatives, Tokyo
Honorable members of parliament, distinguished delegates, and dear friends from around the world,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak at this year’s World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet. It is a great honor to stand here today—especially on this day, June 4, a day that carries deep meaning for all of us who have lived through or inherited the legacy of political repression.
June 4 marks the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. On this day, 36 years ago, thousands of peaceful students and citizens in Beijing rose up to demand democracy, transparency, and reform. And on that day, the Chinese Communist Party answered them not with dialogue, but with tanks and bullets. The massacre was not just a national tragedy—it was a turning point in modern history. It taught authoritarian regimes that they could kill without consequence, and it taught generations of Chinese people that truth could be buried under fear.
But truth is resilient. It continues to live on in memory, in candlelight vigils, in testimonies, and in our voices here today.
In Hong Kong, we remembered June 4 every year by gathering in Victoria Park to mourn the dead, honor their courage, and keep their legacy alive. Those gatherings were peaceful. They were lawful. And they were profoundly moving. But since 2020, under the National Security Law, these vigils have been banned. The organizers imprisoned. The park emptied. The candles extinguished.
Among those still detained is Chow Hang-tung, a human rights lawyer and one of the core members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. She is now imprisoned for the simple act of encouraging people to remember the victims of Tiananmen—something that should be a moral obligation, not a criminal offense.
Another political prisoner we must remember today is Jimmy Lai—a publisher, businessman, and lifelong advocate for democracy and press freedom in Hong Kong. Jimmy is the founder of Apple Daily, one of the city’s last independent newspapers, which was forcibly shut down by the Hong Kong government in 2021 under the National Security Law.
Jimmy Lai has been imprisoned since 2020. At the age of 77, he now faces multiple charges including “collusion with foreign forces”—a vague accusation commonly used to silence dissent. But what he truly stood for was peaceful political change, the right to speak freely, and the belief that Hong Kong could remain a place where truth mattered.
These are not isolated cases. They are symptoms of a deeper crisis—a system that treats memory as a threat and humanity as an obstacle.
It is for this reason that I am especially grateful the WPCT is being held in Tokyo for the first time. Here, in Japan, we still have the freedom to speak, to gather, and to remember. And by bringing this convention to East Asia, we shine a much-needed light on Tibet’s struggle in a region that is increasingly aware of the danger posed by China’s expanding influence. This is not just about Tibet. Not just about Hong Kong. It is about defending the very principles that allow societies to flourish: truth, justice, and freedom.
As a Hongkonger, I feel a deep connection with the Tibetan cause. Just like Tibet, Hong Kong was promised autonomy under Chinese rule. And just like Tibet, that promise was broken.
But in the face of loss, the Tibetan people have given us a model of dignity and resilience. After more than 60 years of occupation and exile, Tibetan communities have not only survived—they have preserved their identity, their language, their religion, and their moral clarity. For us in the Hong Kong diaspora, you are more than allies—you are our teachers. You have shown us that resistance is not only possible—it is sustainable, and it can be peaceful.
We, too, believe in peaceful resistance and pluralism. We do not fight to replace one regime with another, or to defeat people we call our enemies. We fight to uphold the shared dignity of all people—Han, Tibetan, Uyghur, South-Mongolians, Taiwanese, Hongkonger, and beyond. As China continues to exert influence around the world, we must stand firm. Not with hatred, but with integrity. Not by building walls, but by building values.
Our goal is not to crush the regime that oppresses us. Our goal is to prevent others from suffering the same fate. What we have learned through our pain—about courage, compassion, and nonviolence—must be shared with the world. We must become navigators of freedom and peace. Not out of revenge, but out of responsibility.
Yesterday we honored the upcoming eighth anniversary of the death of Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Even after years in prison, facing death, he famously said, “I have no enemies.” That idea may sound impossible to those who have suffered. But it is in that impossibility that hope lives.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has also taught us that true change does not come from defeating others, but from transforming ourselves. Hatred may give us strength in the short term, but it will destroy us in the long term. That is why I want to urge my fellow Hongkongers, and all who live under oppression: Let go of hatred. Let go of aggression. And let go of the desire for revenge—not only toward the regime that hurts you, but also toward those within your own community.
Oppression breeds fear, suspicion, and division. But if we carry that forward into our movements, then we reproduce the very violence we seek to overcome. Instead, we must act with discipline, with love, and with clarity. Only then can we build a future that is not defined by what we suffered—but by what we gave.
Our common ground may be rooted in shared pain. But it grows through our shared values: a deep commitment to nonviolence, to dialogue, and to compassion. These are not just ideals. They are strategies for survival. And in this century of rising authoritarianism, they may be the only strategies that can save us.
Let us carry this flame forward together—not as victims of the past, but as guardians of a freer, more humane future.
Thank you very much.
