- Americans get their belief back as Pochettino makes his mark
- Vietnam, China to boost economic, defence cooperation
- Winning start for Pochettino's American adventure
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- US firms brace for more tariffs as election approaches
- Winning start for Poch's American adventure
- Morocco's tribeswomen see facial tattoo tradition fade
- Centre-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
- Sinner tames Machac to reach Shanghai Masters final
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
Hong Kong novelists seek freedom in exile after democracy crackdown
When Hong Kong author Kay So left her home city in 2020, she had in her luggage two short stories she had written about the huge, at times violent democracy protests that upended the city in 2019.
It was then three months after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the financial hub to quell political dissent after the protests were quashed.
So knew it would be improbable for her writing project to grow into a book in Hong Kong, so she moved to self-ruled Taiwan to study creative writing.
"I don't want to do creative work in a place... where I have to self-censor. The freedom to write is an important freedom," the 30-year-old told AFP on the phone from Taiwan, where she now lives.
She has since completed a collection of eight short stories written in Chinese that draw inspiration from the protests, entitled "Gazing Into a Fire".
It was published in Taiwan in May -- a month before the fifth anniversary of when a million Hong Kongers took to the streets to oppose a bill to extradite criminal suspects to China's opaque system.
The former British colony -- handed back to China in 1997 -- saw the march morph into a larger movement for more autonomy from Beijing for seven heady months before authorities crushed it.
More than 10,000 people were arrested and over 2,900 prosecuted for participating in the protests.
Since then, protests and anti-government opposition -- which used to make Hong Kong distinct from other Chinese cities -- have all but disappeared, while democracy activists have either been jailed, moved away or muted.
But the movement appears to live on in the pages of several fiction titles published in recent years by Hong Kong authors -- many of them choosing to live and write abroad.
So said her book was dedicated to the democracy movement of 2019, which she called "the most compelling and influential episode" in her life.
"Many people are still serving time in prison or waiting for trial," she said.
"I would like to speak to people who still care... so they would know right here there is a writer who also still cares."
- 'Can't let go' -
Under the Beijing-made security law, media outlets regarded as critical to the government have been prosecuted as "seditious publications", while some independent bookstores -- seen as a leftover bastion of liberal circles -- have faced increased government inspections.
Hong Kong also enacted a second law in March that includes a widened definition of "sedition", which foreign governments like the United States say will curb further freedoms in the city -- effectively silencing an already muted opposition bloc.
But the Hong Kong painted in the pages of So's stories remains in a state of roiling agitation.
A mother tries to send her jailed son his favourite dish; a student struggles with her professor over politics; a daughter writes a letter to her late father accused of being an anti-government suicide bomber.
"I found that I was trapped, I had to keep writing about the movement," So said.
Award-winning novelist Leung Lee-chi, also based in Taiwan, professed the same urgency.
"I can't let go of Hong Kong," she told AFP.
Leung has produced a trilogy since she moved to the island in 2021 -- "Everyday Movement" about those caught in the protests, "Survivor's Notes" exploring what led to the movement, and the latest on the post-protest diaspora titled "The Melancholy of Trees".
"After a political turmoil, literature can help us rediscover ourselves in the sweeping waves," Leung said.
- 'Sustaining the freedom' -
Those who have chosen to continue working creatively in the city must look for "space within its framework", said a Hong Kong-based novelist.
"That's what I believe literature should do," he said, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions as he has published stories about the 2019 protests.
The memory of the protests remains "a constantly inflamed wound" for many Hong Kongers, he said.
"There is basically no space, no soil for people to discuss, to narrate, to express... but it's not non-existent," he said.
Pointing to the pending court cases against democracy activists and recent arrests under Hong Kong's security laws, he said writing has become his way to connect with people and maintain the spirit of freedom.
"If we persist in... exercising it in our daily life, we are inheriting and sustaining the freedom."
B.Finley--AMWN