Meet the invisible Hong Kong taxi drivers risking danger to help anti-government protesters escape police – for free

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Some of these “protest drivers” said they started to help the protest movement because they could not be at the front lines themselves.

They are the invisible Hong Kong taxi drivers who have carried anti-government protesters away from police in the midst of countless confrontations over the past three months of political turmoil.

Franco Cheung Ching-ho, 32, said he knew he had to help as soon as Hong Kong’s protests erupted in June over a now-withdrawn extradition bill. He decided to join the protest movement as a taxi driver behind the scenes. “One of them said he was prepared to face a riot charge if arrested by police. He mentioned it in a light and casual way: ‘If 10 years in jail is the worst that could happen to me, I can take it’,” Cheung said.

“At around 5pm, I heard that some protesters were trapped in Tung Chung who were trying to walk to the Lantau Link toll plaza to find their way out. I immediately drove to the plaza to pick up some protesters – though I felt very nervous for fear of being stopped by police,” he said. Chan, a frontline protester of the 2014 Occupy movement, said he could not join the protests this time because of health problems so he decided to help under the cover of being a taxi driver.

“She was about 16 or 17 without gear. I picked her up in Sheung Wan and she was very nervous. Once she got in my taxi, she immediately broke down in tears. I comforted her, but my heart sank heavily. What made a young girl like her so scared and sad? I knew then that I could not turn them away,” he said.

 

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