UK extends visa rights to 3 million Hong Kongers

[Monoriu]

I for one won't miss you when you're cut off in the near future.

Just so you know, every time I go to the Mainland, I can access languish.  Can't get rid of me so easily 

[Sheilbh]

So we have some stats on this - 2020 has seen more UK passports issued to Hong Kongers since 1997 (about 250,000 this year), 10 years ago fewer than 10,000 were being issued a year. As the headline put it, a passport's being issued every five minutes.

It also seems to have come in a couple of waves. There was a surge of approvals following the initial unrest, it then fell back over the spring but since the National Security Law was passed it's increased every month and October (which is when the stats go up to) was the busiest month with 60,000 passports issued. There's also been a reported 80% increase in queries from Hong Kong for property.

UK government estimates for how many will actually come to the UK range between about 250-350,000. Having said that I'd note that the "high" estimate for passport applications this year was under 200,000 so....?

[Monoriu]

Getting a passport is the easy part.  You lose the fee and some time, that's it.  Actually moving is an entirely different matter. 

A proxy statistic we look at is the "good citizen card" - actually a record of no criminal conviction issued by the police.  There are mainly two reasons why someone needs it - either it is a job requirement, e.g. you want to be a security guard in HK, or you want to move to the UK, Canada etc.  Most foreign governments demand it before it will accept a HKer.  This statistic is somewhat stable, about 22k from January to September in both 2019 and 2020.  My gut feeling is half of those are normal security guard applications, and the other half are those who want to move.  So full year figures are probably 28k-30k.  Half of those want to move, that's 14k to 15k people who want to move every year.

We take in about 55k Mainland immigrants every year, so the population should still be increasing.  Our natural population growth rate is deep in the negative though. 

Certainly the National Security Law is one consideration for those who want to move, but it isn't the only factor.  Property prices is a crucial factor.  Prices in HK are so high that probably only those who are in the top 5% income brackets can afford a flat now.   It also means those who already own a flat can easily sell it and retire in somewhere cheap, like Manchester. 

[Sheilbh]

Also getting a passport is all you can do right now. The new visa and requirements for it haven't been launched - that starts on 31 January 2021.

[Monoriu]

Also getting a passport is all you can do right now. The new visa and requirements for it haven't been launched - that starts on 31 January 2021.

I personally know a civil servant who quit in August and moved to the UK with her entire family.  Caused me a lot of trouble.  People move to the UK all the time, even without this latest BNO visa scheme. 

[Monoriu]

The National People's Congress Standing Committee will hold an emergency session in these few days.  The latest rumour is that they will make a decision that forbids any HKer who gets a BN(O) passport from holding "public office".  Public office unfortunately is not very clearly defined under HK law.  Different ordinances have different definitions.  But the broadest interpretation could mean "all civil servants and employees of subsidised bodies".  "Subsidised bodies" could mean most schools, hospitals, social welfare organisations, orchestras, universities, etc.  If true, that will mean that people who get their BN(O) passports under the latest UK scheme won't be able to get, I don't know, half the jobs in HK.  Say a medical doctor who gets the passport this way won't be able to practise in any hospital. 

Pro-Beijing groups are also proposing all sorts of consequences like losing the right to vote, no welfare, or even losing the right to enter Hong Kong at all. 

[Josquius]

Don't you have one?

[Richard Hakluyt]

Mono has a full one iirc; though the question may still apply.

[Monoriu]

Don't you have one?

Mine is the same as yours. 

[Maladict]

From the way mono phrased it, it doesn't seem to be retroactive.

[garbon]

From the way mono phrased it, it doesn't seem to be retroactive.

A most reliable narrator.

[Maladict]

From the way mono phrased it, it doesn't seem to be retroactive.

A most reliable narrator.

Well yes, caveat narrator.

[Sheilbh]

Meanwhile:

China's treatment of Uighurs amounts to torture, says Dominic Raab
Foreign secretary sets out measures to ensure UK companies cannot profit from forced labour in Xinjiang
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Tue 12 Jan 2021 16.33 GMT
First published on Tue 12 Jan 2021 16.30 GMT

China's treatment of the Uighur people amounts to torture, the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said as he set out measures designed to ensure no companies allow the use of forced labour from Xinjiang province in their supply chain. Deterrent fines will be imposed on firms that do not show due diligence in cleaning up their supply chains, he said.

The aim, he told MPs, was to "ensure no company that profits from forced labour in Xinjiang can do business in the UK, that no UK business is involved in their supply chains".

He also proposed a review of export controls to Xinjiang province – the region in which tens of thousands of Uighur Muslims have been detained; new guidance to companies operating in the province; and a commitment that the Modern Slavery Act will be extended to the public sector.

Raab also said the government was reviewing the role of China's Confucius Institutes operating in British academic institutions.

But the foreign secretary held back from imposing sanctions against any individual Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses, saying "he will keep that in reserve".

The tightening up of the Modern Slavery Act, including company-reporting requirements, largely follows the recommendations of a government-commissioned report, overseen by the MP Frank Field, and published in May 2019 that found many companies treated the act as a box-ticking exercise. Critics said the review merely imposes fines if companies with an annual turnover of more than £36m do not produce an annual report.

His package is likely to be seen as the bare minimum by critics of Chinese human rights, and will do little to stem a potential rebellion by those critics demanding that the government endorse amendments passed in the Lords that make human rights a central consideration in future trade deals.

Labour's Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, said the robustness of Raab's words had not been matched by his actions, adding there was little that was new and "amounted to tinkering around the edges". Far from going further than any other country, she said France had already gone further than the UK.

But the scale of Raab's criticisms of China were striking, accusing the country of "extensive and invasive surveillance targeting minorities, systematic restrictions on Uighur culture, education, and the practice of Islam, and the widespread use of forced labour". Satellite imagery showed the scale of the internment camps, the presence of factories inside them, and the destruction of mosques, he said.

Describing the position as harrowing, he added: "The nature and conditions of detention violate basic standards of human rights and, at their worst, amount to torture. Internment camps, arbitrary detention, political re-education, forced labour, torture, forced sterilisation.
All on an industrial scale. It is truly horrific. Barbarism we all hoped was lost to another era."

He said he had discussed with the UN secretary general, António Guterres, UK proposals for a UN human rights commissioner to be allowed to go to the province to examine the allegations of forced labour. He said without such a visit it is difficult to determine if "the tenable plausible and credible reports of forced labour" were true, he said. China has rejected the proposal, prompting Raab to claim "China cannot simply refuse all access to those trusted third party bodies who could verify the facts, and at the same time maintain a position of credible denial".

In the Commons, Raab came under the most pressure over whether he will give a role to UK Judges to make a pre-determination on whether genocide is being committed in Xinjiang, and if so, refuse to negotiate any free-trade agreement with China, a measure that has already been inserted into the trade bill in the Lords.

Critics say Raab's current position leads to a cul de sac as the international courts are not able to determine if genocide is occurring due to China's refusal to refer the issue to the international court of justice.

Luke de Pulford, of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: "The measures to tighten the Modern Slavery Act do not stop companies not telling the truth about slavery in their supply chains. Companies like HikVision and Huawei have been accused of helping Uighur oppression, but this issue is not addressed in their modern slavery statements, and these statements do nothing to address that."

The China Research Group of Tory MPs welcomed the plans to review the UK's export controls.

From what I've read especially in fast-fashion this is very welcomed by activists, but is very much a first step because companies just don't have the control or understanding of their supply chain - yet.

Also interesting is that on the same day Canada announced similar (but stricter) measures. I think it's an interesting fact that the government we are coordinating most with is Trudeau's Canada (Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Belarus, Nagarno-Karabakh) and the governments that we have invested most diplomatic effort in working with are Korea and Japan (multiple ministerial visits despite covid, largely around energy transition/climate commitments but also other issues). I had fears about what Brexit would mean for foreign policy but I think these steps on China (comments on Trump as well and focus on energy transition) makes me feel a little bit reassured and the focus on other similar-minded medium powers like Canada, Japan, Korea seems sensible and not delusional. I realise that's a very low bar, but it is worth noting that it's being cleared at this stage

[Sheilbh]

Update - visa applications open at the end of the month  

The Hong Kong migrants fleeing to start new lives in the UK
By Michael Bristow
BBC News
    21 hours ago

The UK will introduce a new visa at the end of January that will give 5.4 million Hong Kong residents - a staggering 70% of the territory's population - the right to come and live in the UK, and eventually become citizens.

It is making this "generous" offer to residents of its former colony because it believes China is undermining Hong Kong's rights and freedoms.

Not everyone will come. Some of those eligible to leave have expressed their determination to stay and continue the fight for democracy.

In the end, Britain estimates that about 300,000 will take up the visa offer over the next five years.

But some are so keen to leave that they are already in the UK, including Andy Li and his wife Teri Wong.


Andy Li (L) and Teri Wong (R) have already moved to the UK to give their children better opportunities

The couple moved to the city of York with their daughter Gudelia and son Paul in October, shortly after Britain announced it was planning to launch the new visa scheme.

They made the move primarily for their children.

"We feel that the things we treasure about Hong Kong - our core values - are fading over time," said Mr Li.

"So we decided we needed to provide a better opportunity for our children, not only for their education, but also for their futures."

For Mr Li, Britain provides the kind of society - the rule of law, freedom of speech, democratic elections - that he longed for in Hong Kong.

Mrs Wong said she wanted her children to be able to say what they wanted at school, not like in Hong Kong, where they had to be careful. "That's not the life we want them to have," she said.

Britain has allowed Hong Kong residents like Mr Li and his family to move to the UK even before the new visa comes into force.

But from 31 January, they can begin the process of applying for citizenship, which will take six years.

In the meantime, they will have to fund themselves, although they will be able to get healthcare and have their children educated.

Gudelia, who is 14, and Paul, 11, have already found a new school.

Mr Li continues to work remotely for a Chinese electronics company based in Shenzhen, the Chinese city just over the border from Hong Kong.

The family are excited about their new life, but others have arrived with less of a sense of starting something good as fleeing something bad.

One person who did not want to be identified came to Britain recently after taking part in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019.

"I fear for the safety and security of the friends and family who decided to stay behind," the 23-year-old told the BBC.

"And I am afraid I will also become a target for the Hong Kong authorities because of my active participation in the protests."

But even this person has hope for a better life: "Being granted a chance to live here is a dream come true."

Since the UK handed back its former colony 23 years ago, relatively few of the territory's residents - less than 16,000 - have become British citizens.

That is certain to change, partly because the new visa scheme appears to offer few hurdles for the millions eligible to apply.

"I had clients applying to Canada, Australia and Taiwan who suspended their applications and now want to go to the UK," said Andrew Lo, a Hong Kong immigration adviser.

Another consultant in the territory, Colin Bloomfield, said the visa provisions did appear generous, although he said Britain might add more requirements that would make it harder to move.

The scheme is open to Hong Kong residents who claimed British National (Overseas), or BNO, status before the handover in 1997. A total of 2.9 million people registered and so can apply for the new visa.

Their dependants - an additional two-and-a-half million people - are also eligible to travel with them.

Teri Wong is the only person in her family who has registered for BNO status, but she has been allowed to bring her husband, who was born in China, and their two children to Britain with her.

'Why should I leave?'

Although the British government admits that as many as one million people could apply for the visa over the next five years, it thinks only a few hundred thousand will actually do so.

It believes most people will choose to remain in Hong Kong.

Some residents will not want to leave behind elderly parents or learn a new language; the British weather is certain to dissuade others.

Many do not want to abandon the territory to its fate.

"There is a certain number of people who do not want to leave, particularly the young. They would rather die in Hong Kong," said Mr Lo.

"I have a lot of clients who fight with their kids because the children don't want to emigrate. They say: 'Why should I leave? I should try my best to change this place'."

There is also the difficulty of finding work in Britain, as the country tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and Brexit.

And if enough come, new arrivals could face resentment from British people who oppose too much immigration.

"In the cold light of day, many will decide to stay in Hong Kong," said Mr Bloomfield, whose company is called British Connections.

Regardless of how many apply, the British government said it had no choice but to offer Hong Kong people an escape route.

"This is not a question of numbers," said a Home Office spokesperson.

"The government is committed to giving British National (Overseas) citizens in Hong Kong a choice to come to the UK, fulfilling our historic commitment to them."

Britain believes that when China imposed its national security law on Hong Kong earlier this year, it breached the terms of the handover agreement signed by the two countries.

The space for expressing opinions that the Chinese government does not like has certainly narrowed since the law came into effect in July.

In the end, the number of Hong Kong residents emigrating to Britain might depend on how much more Beijing decides to squeeze.

[Monoriu]

Certainly some will consider politics to be their foremost consideration.  But I doubt the majority will think that way.  People come and go for a multitude of reasons, like job prospects, housing prices, quality of life, etc.  Most students in HK are trained to become office workers, and their chance of finding employment in the UK that is relevant to their training is very low.  Reports of people who have actually moved to the UK indicate that they are doing food delivery, or acting as Uber drivers and the like.  People who have children are more likely to move.  Their children will be a lot happier with the UK curriculum than the HK one, and they actually have some chance to get good jobs if they spend their childhood in the UK.  Some people simply sell their HK flats, most of them are worth at least a million pounds, and retire in the UK.