Xavier Chan said at times she didn’t know if it was safe to even speak
Musician Xavier Chan came to Liverpool in December 2021(Image: Xavier Chan)
Xavier Chan remembers the date August 31st so clearly and for all the wrong reasons. She and others were inside a train station when it was suddenly raided.
The 28-year-old claims members of the police force randomly just started attacking people waiting “with no warning or no reason”. The former primary school teacher told the ECHO: “They just started bashing people. Anyone who happened to be there.
“And then there was silence. The station closed for days. No answers, no reports, and no justice. Just fear. No one even knows what happened to some of the people inside. They just vanished.”
This was back in Xavier’s home country; as she recalls, it was far from an isolated experience. In 2020, life for many in Hong Kong was fundamentally altered after Beijing imposed sweeping national security laws that gave it broad new powers to punish critics and silence dissenters.
Since then, Xavier claims authorities have arrested dozens of pro-democracy activists, lawmakers, and journalists, curbed voting rights, and limited freedoms of the press and speech.
This was further cemented in March 2024, when lawmakers passed Article 23—additional security legislation that further enforces China’s rule on the city’s rights and freedoms. It essentially allows for closed-door trials and gives the police the right to detain suspects for up to 16 days without charge.
Musician Xavier Chan lives a very different life in Merseyside than she did in Hong Kong(Image: Xavier Chan)
The university graduate said: “When everything started in Hong Kong, it felt like the city I grew up in was being torn apart. The suppression was terrifying.
“The police didn’t treat us like people anymore. They treated us like threats—like we didn’t deserve basic human rights. I wasn’t even a protester, but I was scared every single day.
“Even when no protests were happening, violence still broke out. The government would get people who supported them to form mobs. They’d attack random people—on the streets, at stations, in public places.
“It didn’t matter if you were a child, an old person, or just someone walking home. They’d just start beating people. And the worst part? The police would stand there and let it happen. Because those mobs were working with them. I saw it with my own eyes.
“Every single day felt like we were trapped in darkness. We couldn’t go to school safely. We didn’t know if it was safe to speak. I watched a video of a protester; he wasn’t doing anything, just standing there, and the police shot him. Then, he was arrested and treated like a criminal. That moment broke something inside me.”
Xavier Chan after graduating university in Hong Kong alongside best friend Kitty Shih(Image: Xavier Chan)
Following this, the musician fled the special administrative region and found solace here in Liverpool. Wanting to “start fresh and have freedom”, Xavier moved to Crosby with her mum and sister.
However, her journey to the UK wasn’t straightforward by any means. The Hong Kong protests — which began over a proposed extradition bill but spiralled into pro-democratic movements for autonomy from China — saw mass rallies, and attacks on Hong Kong citizens, such as tear-gassing and arrests.
These incidents prompted residents to fear freedom, and many, like Xavier, fled abroad. The banking dispute consultant said: “I had to leave. I had to take a chance for my family, for our future. I wanted to build a new life somewhere we could finally breathe again.
“I sold all my music gear, everything I had worked so hard for, just to gather the money to start over. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. But I knew I had to choose survival. I had to choose hope.”
Xavier believed moving to Liverpool was the end of her dream of becoming a musician. However, since settling, she believes this to be far from the case – after all, the city is renowned for its musical offerings.
Fast-forward to Easter Sunday, 2025, and Xavier will be among the acts performing at Camp and Furnace’s Primal Live. The event gives up-and-coming artists a platform whilst raising money for The Whitechapel Centre for the homeless.
She said: “I was literally crying one night because I didn’t know when I would ever pick up my guitar again. But I held onto the thought that if I could manage life here, I’d get everything back someday.
“I always worried that not being local would be a problem, but people here don’t care about that. They’ll welcome you as long as you have heart and good songs.
“If someone listens to my music and feels something, that’s my biggest happiness. I’ve decided that music has to be part of my future. I want new challenges and bigger things. I don’t want just to do what I need to survive—I want to truly live. No matter what happens in the competition, one thing is clear, I’ve already won back the thing that matters most in life, my voice.”