Bernard Chan
Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg
Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg
Hong Kong is unlikely to see an exodus in a UK visa program for British special passport holders, said a top government adviser, who predicted some would be offset by arrivals from mainland China.
The number of British (overseas) national passport holders leaving would be “much, much smaller” than current estimates of up to 1 million over the next five years, Executive Council Coordinator Bernard Chan said Monday. While the former British colony has seen people fleeing in the past, such as before returning to Chinese rule in 1997, “either new immigrants return or enter,” Chan said.
There is now a large pool of talented continents to take the place of those who leave, Chan said. He described those leaving as a mix of people who do not trust China, who want a better education for their children or who “think they may not be as competitive” in the world. an economy that is increasingly appreciating workers who can help companies earn business in China.
“If you look at foreign companies, they all hire returnees from the mainland,” Chan said. “Their customers are all Chinese from the mainland. Can you blame them? ”
Grants from Great Britain Hong Kong 5 Passports a minute as the Exodus fabrics
On Sunday, the UK will start accepting visa applications for up to 2.9 million Hong Kong residents and dependents eligible for the NBO, who make up almost 70% of the local population. London announced the move after Beijing imposed a comprehensive national security law in June, which the British government called a “clear and serious violation” of the 1984 treaty that paved the way for Hong Kong’s return.
China has 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 Britain said the new law “restricts the rights and the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong. “Some pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong have called for measures to allow city dwellers to hold a single passport.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said the security law was “equal, if not superior” to similar US law, and urged the Biden administration to do a “fair” review. “Given the extreme social unrest and violence that overwhelmed Hong Kong in 2019, the adoption of the national security law by the central authorities was both necessary and rational,” she said. said a forum on US-China relations.
Hong Kong courts are the last check Beijing Increasing power
While Chan acknowledged that some residents began to move, he argued that newcomers made up for previous waves of external migration, such as after China’s crackdown on Tiananmen Square activists in 1989. Others returned to the city. once things are settled.
“Right now, we’re still in the middle of the storm – it’s not the right time to assess the situation,” Chan said. “But it will not come close to the number of people projected anyway.”
(Updates with Carrie Lam’s comments in the seventh paragraph.)