A request to my subscribers
A request to my subscribers
The Hong Kong government is trying to cut off funding to pro-democracy advocates abroad. It’s working.
I’ve been publishing this Substack for two years now. In that time, I’ve exposed misconduct in the judiciary, highlighted the cases of heroic political prisoners, shared stories of my own experiences in prison and the 2019 protests, provided analysis of Hong Kong’s repressive new laws, and more. At the same time, I’ve been working full time with other activists around the globe to press for Western and international responses to the crackdown, draw public attention to Hong Kong’s troubles, and build a sustainable activist movement for the city’s future.
In the process, almost 3,000 of you have signed up to receive my Substack articles in your inbox and many of you even forward them on to spread the word. For that, I am incredibly grateful.
A number of you—a couple hundred—have over the years also chosen to sustain this work with a paid subscription. This group makes it possible for me to not only run this newsletter, but also sustains my broader advocacy working with the global movement from my base in Washington, DC.
But the Hong Kong government sees those of us doing this work as a serious threat. That’s why last year they issued 1 million HKD bounties against 13 of my friends and colleagues. It’s why they have taken to arresting people in Hong Kong suspected of donating to activists abroad. And it’s why the newly-proposed Article 23 national security law is preoccupied with “foreign interference.”
The government’s efforts are working—our funding for this work is drying up, and activists are facing hard choices about whether and to what extent they must reduce their efforts and take on non-advocacy work to get by.
In January alone, I lost 10% of my paid subscribers:
That amounts to $1,500 in annual revenue, or about 10 percent of what I earn from supporters for my advocacy and writing work.
I’ve never sent an email like this before, and I may never again. But for those of you who are safely out of Hong Kong, if you’ve been following my writing and DC advocacy, and you believe it is worth supporting, I’m asking you to consider upgrading to a paid subscription.
What will you get for a paid subscription? Well…nothing except the knowledge that you’re supporting a cause we all care about, and my gratitude. Unlike most Substack newsletters, when I started mine I resolved to always keep it free and open to all. My purpose is not to create an exclusive set of articles behind a paywall, but rather to create a platform to spread news and analysis about what’s happening in Hong Kong to as many people as possible.
If you’re willing to support this work, you can do so in two ways:
By subscribing to my Patreon at this link, or
By clicking the button below and upgrading to a monthly or annual Substack subscription.
I’m incredibly grateful for your support. I couldn’t do this without you.