Bernard Chan
Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg
Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg
Hong Kong is unlikely to see an exodus under a UK visa program for British special passport holders, said a government adviser, who predicted some would be offset by arrivals from mainland China.
The number of British (foreign) passport holders coming out would be “much, much lower” than current estimates of up to 1 million over the next five years, Bernard Chan, executive council coordinator, said on Monday. While the former British colony has seen people flee in the past, such as before its return to the Chinese government in 1997, “either new immigrants return or enter,” Chan said.
There is now a large group of talented continents to replace those who are leaving, Chan said. He described those leaving as a mix of people who don’t trust China, who want a better education for their children or who “think they may not be as competitive” in an economy that increasingly values workers who can help. companies to win business in China. .
“If we look at foreign companies, they all hire people returned to the mainland,” Chan said. “All its customers are Chinese from the mainland. Can you blame them? “
UK Scholarships Hong Kong 5 Passports per minute while on exodus
On Sunday, the UK will start accepting visa applications for 2.9 million Hong Kong residents and dependents eligible for BNO, who together make up almost 70% of the local population. London announced the move after Beijing enacted a comprehensive national security law in June, which the British government called a “clear and grave breach” of the 1984 treaty that paved the way for Hong Kong’s return.
China justified security measures banning subversion, terrorism, secession and collusion with foreign forces as a necessary tool to end the sometimes violent protests that hit the city in 2019, while the United Kingdom he said the new law “restricts the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.” Some pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong have called for measures to allow city residents only one passport.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said the security law was “on par with, if not higher than, similar legislation in the United States,” and urged the Biden administration to do the same. a “fair” review. “Given the extreme social unrest and violence that overwhelmed Hong Kong in 2019, the enactment of the national security law by the central authorities was necessary and rational,” he said. said at a forum on US-China relations.
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While Chan acknowledged that some residents had begun to move, he argued that the newcomers had made up for previous waves of external migration, such as after China’s crackdown on activists in Tiananmen Square in 1989. they returned to the city once things settled down.
“Right now, we’re still in the middle of a storm; it’s not a good time to assess the situation,” Chan said. “But either way, it won’t come close to the number of people being projected.”
(Updates with Carrie Lam’s comments in the seventh paragraph.)