I am shocked at the betrayal of an old confidant

While the trial against 47 democracy activists and politicians is ongoing in Hong Kong, Chinese balloons are being burst all over the world. I found it difficult to follow the coverage of the negotiations. Au Nok-hin - someone I know from before - appears as a witness for the prosecution. In plain language: He betrays others in order to achieve a reduction in his sentence.

Au is trying to support the government's narrative. He described in detail all the primary election meetings he attended and portrayed law professor and activist Benny Tai as a "criminal mastermind". Joshua Wong was also mentioned several times in his testimony. At some point Au actually said: "I'm afraid that I might not say something correctly." That shouldn't surprise anyone - but it was still frightening that he said it.

Au is someone I remember as kind and devoted. It is incomprehensible to me why he would do such a thing. And why he's trying to get others to testify for the prosecution in return for a lesser sentence.

I thought we all knew that fighting one of the world's greatest authoritarian regimes is not easy. And that we have to pay a price for it. Maybe I'm too naive, maybe life behind bars is just too hard to bear. Or maybe the other defendants are just too brave and bold.

To put it mildly, I am shocked. A colleague you used to work with abuses the trust of others. How do I handle this? Should I understand and forgive him? Is it okay that I'm angry and feeling betrayed? What's the right reaction?

I've been confused and angry all week, but life goes on. My work has yielded remarkable results and I have mixed feelings about it. The architect of the Xinjiang forced labor camps originally planned to visit Europe this week and meet with officials from various governments, including the EU. However, thanks to campaigns and actions, he canceled his trip.

Meanwhile, the EU is expected to resume human rights dialogue with China later this month. Wang Yi, Xi Jinping's chief foreign policy adviser, will also visit Russia and four EU countries: France, Germany, Italy and Hungary. He also spoke at the Munich Security Conference.

All of this leaves me confused. I wonder if EU officials know how confusing it is to roll out the red carpet for someone who has committed crimes against humanity while trying to resolve human rights issues with China. They have to be aware of it - otherwise the UK would not have warned activists against protesting against it, and other countries would not be canceling the meetings. It's all contradictory. I have no idea what they are trying to achieve with this.

Glacier Kwong alternates writing this column with Joshua Wong. The two young activists from Hong Kong are fighting against the growing influence of China in their homeland. Since Wong is currently imprisoned, Kwong will continue this column alone for the time being.