Bernard Chan
Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg
Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg
Hong Kong is unlikely to see an exodus under a UK visa program for holders of special UK passports, said a top government adviser, who predicted some would be offset by arrivals from mainland China.
The number of outgoing British national (overseas) passport holders would be “much, much smaller” than current estimates of a whopping 1 million for the next five years, Bernard Chan, chairman of the Executive Council, said Monday. While the former British colony has seen people flee in the past, such as before the return to Chinese rule in 1997, “they are returning or new immigrants are coming in,” Chan said.
There is now a large pool of talented mainlanders to take the place of those leaving, Chan said. He described those who leave 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 employees who can help businesses run a business. to win in China. .
“If you look at foreign companies, they all hire mainland returnees,” Chan said. “Their customers are all Chinese from the mainland. Can you blame them? “
UK grants Hongkongers 5 passports a minute as Exodus Looms
On Sunday, the UK will begin accepting visa applications for as many as 2.9 million BNO-eligible residents and dependents in Hong Kong, who together make up nearly 70% of the local population. London announced the move after Beijing enacted a sweeping national security law in June, which the UK government called a “clear and grave violation” of the 1984 treaty paving the way for Hong Kong’s return.
China justified the security measures that prevent 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 UK said the new law ‘ and liberties of the people of Hong Kong. Some pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong have called for measures to allow city residents to have only one passport.
On Tuesday, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, said the security law “is on par with, if not superior to” similar legislation in the US and urged the Biden government to give it a “fair” review. to give. “Given the extreme social unrest and violence that overwhelmed Hong Kong in 2019, the introduction of the National Security Act by central authorities was both necessary and rational,” she says told a forum about US-China relations.
The Hong Kong courts are the final check Beijing Growing power
While Chan acknowledged that some residents had begun to move, he argued that newcomers had compensated for previous waves of migration, such as after China’s crackdown on activists in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Others returned to the city as soon as matters were resolved.
“At this point, we are still in the middle of the storm – now is not a good time to assess the situation,” Chan said. “But either way, it’s not going to come close to the number of people projected.”
(Updates with comments from Carrie Lam in the seventh paragraph.)