Notice: Letters of Support for Political Prisoners in Hong Kong

There are now more than 250 pro-democracy political prisoners in Hong Kong. You can help support them.

Here’s a BBC backgrounder on Beijing’s recent repression of Hong Kong dissidents.

Following advice from Wall-fare, a non-profit supporting political prisoners, we have included information below about the best and simplest way for people outside of Hong Kong to send letters of support to political prisoners in Hong Kong. Imagine what a letter of support would mean to you if you were behind bars, especially if you were in solitary confinement. Please do send one if you have time.

What you can do:

• Email a letter to penfriend@shiukachun.org.hk. Shiu Ka Chun is a former political prisoner (from his participation in 2014’s Umbrella Movement), former legislator, and social worker. He founded Wall-fare, a non-profit supporting political prisoners.

• Wall-fare will print out your letter and send it to a prisoner. (This is a special service to simplify the process for those outside of Hong Kong.)

FAQ:

• To whom should I write?

  • You can write to a specific person:

    • e.g., internationally known leaders such as Joshua Wong or Agnes Chow; labor leader Lee Cheuk-yan, currently in solitary confinement; others mentioned in the BBC article, such as former student leader Lester Shum, former law professor Benny Tai, former reporter Gwyneth Ho, former district councillor Tiffany Yuen; environmentalist Eddie Chu

  • Or you can write a general letter that Wall-fare will match to an appropriate prisoner (You may address it “Dear Friend”)

• What languages should the letters be in?

  • In general, English or Chinese (traditional preferred)

  • In specific cases:

    • Korean: Agnes Chow has just started learning Korean, so you’d make her happy if you wrote her in simple Korean and provided an English translation. That would help her learn.

    • Japanese: Agnes Chow is also fluent in Japanese, as is Au Nok-hin

    • Vietnamese: Eddie Chu has just started learning Vietnamese, because he wants to communicate with prisoners whose mother tongue is Vietnamese. You’d make him happy if you wrote him in simple Vietnamese and provided an English translation

• What should I write about?

  • It’s hard writing to someone you don’t know. Wall-fare recommends:

  • Introduce yourself and share things about your daily life, share info from the outside world

  • Don’t talk about how awful it must be to be in jail

• What format should my letter be in?

  • You can attach a Word document to your email to penfriend@shiukachun.org.hk

  • Or, for a more personal touch, handwrite a letter and then attach a picture of the handwritten letter to the email

• Will I get a response?

  • You can send one-directional letters or have Wall-fare match you with a prisoner who wants to have two-sided communication