Hours before the National Security Act was passed, Nathan Lowe, who was the youngest MP elected to the Hong Kong legislature in 2016, went into exile in the UK
Unlike others who remain low-profile, Lo says he has set himself the mission of continuing to stand up for democracy in Hong Kong.
“The challenges I face as a political activist in Hong Kong are different from the challenges I face as an activist in exile,” he said in London. “I have to talk to politicians, to talk to the media, to explain things in a way that they understand – and to connect what I want them to do with their own interests.
Despite these changes, both in the place where he lives and in the work he does, Lo says he is trying to adapt.
“I think it’s a very rewarding trip for me,” he said.
In other ways, however, it is easier to get media attention in London than in Hong Kong, as press freedom has waned as China’s influence grows, according to Reporters Without Borders.
In 2002, when the Freedom of the Press Index was first published, Hong Kong was ranked in 18 out of 180 countries. Last year it dropped to 80, and this year it is 148.
China, meanwhile, ranks 176th.
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