Thread by @jeffreychngo

1. Over the years, I’ve gotten to know personally and work with many opposition figures in #HongKong. I can say that one of the bravest, most genuine among them is @tedhuichifung. That he’s now in exile reflects the impossibility for even moderates to survive in the city.

2. His dramatic escape to Copenhagen this week was everything but assured. Thanks to helpful Danish friends — including @ThomasRohden, @Storgaaard, and @uffeelbaek — who invited him to discuss climate change and secured the necessary official documents, the court let him loose.

3. Back in 1999, Ted attended the annual Tiananmen candlelight vigil in Victoria Park and met members of the Democratic Party, which he decided to join. He rose through the ranks upon graduating from law school, winning a seat in 2011 to the Central and Western District Council.

4. He focused on community issues like urban redevelopment as a representative but also showed a strong interest in environmental policy, long advocating for legislation to conserve old trees. True to his brand, he was a proud Nissan Leaf driver. facebook.com/thedphk/videos…

5. His public service caught my attention in 2014, when he discovered an instance of the pro-Beijing camp trying to misuse funds. He staged a sit-in with colleagues in the municipal body that ended with his arrest after a clash with security guards.

6. A progressive in an aging party seen by our generation as sometimes too willing to compromise, he was never afraid to root out dubious elders toeing Beijing’s line on such matters as political reform, like the time he led a successful motion to freeze Nelson Wong’s membership.

7. I saw him a few times in the summer of 2016. He and Nathan Law, for whom I was campaigning, were both running for the Legislative Council on Hong Kong Island. His team was always courteous. I was relieved when both candidates, along with Tanya Chan, prevailed over Ricky Wong.

8. But it was in the U.K. where I really befriended Ted. We were part of a cross-party delegation — back in the days of Demosistō still being a “party” despite Nathan’s disqualification — going to London and Oxford in the fall of 2017 to advocate for democracy in Hong Kong.

9. We spoke with reporters, academics, M.P.s., Lords, and government representatives. He was always firm in calling for the British to live up to their promises and, specifically, urging the Foreign Office to step up its game while writing the six-monthly reports on Hong Kong.

10. He believed in working within the system, whether in navigating the complexities of parliamentary procedures to block bad bills or, increasingly, resorting to more physical confrontation. Yet this got him into further legal trouble and made his party somewhat uncomfortable.

11. Then the anti-extradition movement broke out last summer. I bumped into him outside the government headquarters on June 9, at the end of the million-strong protest, and told him some of us might attempt an overnight occupation. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll accompany you folks.”

12. Day after day, night after night, he continued to show up to demonstrations large and small. I would see him multiple times on the front lines, his signature portable voice amplifier in hand, negotiating with angry, geared-up officers in hopes of de-escalating their violence.

13. His constant presence made him an irritant, but he never backed down. He was present at the Polytechnic University during the November siege’s most intense hours, even knowing that he could face rioting charges with a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

14. He knew how it felt to face constant police brutality. So when the Justice Department refused to hold accountable the traffic cop who shot a young protester in the stomach with a live round in Sai Wan Ho, he initiated a private prosecution.

15. All the while, he fulfilled his duties as a lawmaker. But Beijing left him with no choice: After canceling this year’s elections, it offered to let the opposition remain, only to begin the disqualifications all over again that prompted a mass resignation.

16. Out of office and facing multiple lawsuits that could land him behind bars for years, he took the one chance he had to leave the city forever. I know developments in Hong Kong have been so overwhelming in these first days of December alone, but let’s not forget his story.

17. More of a politician than an activist, he must be going through a lot now, with more baggage than I can imagine. However difficult, I hope he builds a new life with his wife and two young children; I certainly hope, too, to reunite with him in the not-so-distant future.