Thousands flee Hong Kong for UK, fearing China crackdown

[casual]

China should just let these people leave and revoke their citizenship. HK will be a better place without these protesters and rioters.

 

[Dalit]

LOL are these the same Brits that forced Brexit because they disproved immigrants and refugees?

China should just let these people leave and revoke their citizenship. HK will be a better place without these protesters and rioters.

China should be very happy. Problematic and anti-state elements are leaving.

 

[ARMalik]

Thousands flee Hong Kong for UK, fearing China crackdown

LONDON — Cindy had a comfortable lifestyle in Hong Kong: she owned several properties with her husband, they had a good business going. But last year she made up her mind to leave it all behind and…

nypost.com

LONDON — Cindy had a comfortable lifestyle in Hong Kong: she owned several properties with her husband, they had a good business going. But last year she made up her mind to leave it all behind and move her family to Britain, and not even a global pandemic was going to sway her decision.

“To uproot ourselves like this is definitely not easy. But things got uglier last year, the government was really driving us away,” said the businesswoman and mother of two young children who didn’t give her family name because she feared repercussions for speaking out against the Chinese government. “Everything we value – freedom of speech, fair elections, liberties – has been eroded. It’s no longer the Hong Kong we knew, it’s no longer somewhere we can call home.”

Cindy, who landed in London last week, is one of thousands of Hong Kongers fleeing their hometown since Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the territory last summer.

Some are leaving because they fear punishment for supporting pro-democracy protests. But many others, like her, say China’s encroachment on their way of life and civil liberties has become unbearable, and they want to seek a better future for their children abroad. Most say they don’t plan to ever go back.

Many firmed up their exit plans after Britain announced in July that it would open a special immigration pathway for up to 5 million eligible Hong Kongers to live, work and eventually settle in the U.K.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week the offer shows Britain is honoring its “profound ties of history” with Hong Kong, a former colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 on the understanding that it would retain its Western-style freedoms and much of its political autonomy not seen on mainland China.

Applications for the British National Overseas visa officially open Sunday, though many like Wong have already arrived on British soil to get a head start. Eligible Hong Kongers can currently come to the U.K. for six months, but from Sunday they can apply for the right to live and work in the country for five years. After that, they can apply for settled status and then British citizenship.

Britain’s government said some 7,000 people with British National Overseas (BNO) status have arrived since July. It estimates that over 300,000 people will take up the offer of extended residency rights in the next five years.

Wong said she wanted to leave as soon as possible because she feared Beijing would soon move to halt the exodus.
View attachment 712182
Protesters hold a British National passport and Hong Kong colonial flag in a shopping mall during a protest against China’s national security legislation in May 2020.Kin Cheung, file/AP

“The Chinese government said it hasn’t ruled out harsher tactics,” she said. “I think they could lash out if tens of thousands of young professionals start leaving, because that would surely upset Hong Kong’s economy and they wouldn’t like that at all.”

Beijing said Friday it will no longer recognize the BNO passport as a travel document or form of identification, and criticized Britain’s citizenship offer as a move that “seriously infringed” on China’s sovereignty. It was unclear what effect the announcement would have because many Hong Kongers carry multiple passports.

Beijing drastically hardened its stance on Hong Kong after massive anti-government protests in 2019 turned violent and plunged the city into a months-long crisis. Since the security law’s enactment, dozens of pro-democracy activists have been arrested, and the movement’s young leaders have either been jailed or fled abroad.

Because the new law broadly defined acts of subversion, secession, foreign collusion and terrorism, many in Hong Kong fear that expressing any form of political opposition – even posting messages on social media – could land them in trouble.

“I think if you knew when to shut up, you’ll be OK staying in Hong Kong,” said 39-year-old Fan, who also recently arrived in London. Like Wong, he didn’t want to provide his full name. “But I don’t want to do that. I can complain about the queen if I wanted to – I can say anything here.”

Fan, an animator, had sold his flat in Hong Kong and plans to slowly build a new life in Britain – a country he had never even visited before. He won’t be alone in starting from scratch.

“This is a really unique emigration wave – some people haven’t had time to actually visit the country they’re relocating to. Many have no experience of living abroad,” said Miriam Lo, who runs Excelsior UK, a relocation agency. “And because of the pandemic, they couldn’t even come over to view a home before deciding to buy.”

The British government estimates there are 2.9 million BNO status holders eligible to move to the U.K., with a further 2.3 million eligible dependants. The U.K. introduced BNO passports in the 1980s for people who were a “British dependent territories citizen by connection with Hong Kong.” Until recently, the passports had limited benefits because they did not confer nationality or the right to live and work in Britain.

Cindy, the businesswoman, was still recovering from jetlag, but she’s upbeat about her future.

“We want to bring Hong Kong’s energy, our resources and our finances here,” she said. “The move is for our kids, sure. But we want to build a whole new life here for ourselves too.”

U.K. Expects 300,000 People to Leave Hong Kong, Move to Britain

As usual you are posting nonsense and bull.shi,t on this forum. This is all garbage and nonsense. In fact a similar article appeared in Australia many months back which was proven to be fake propaganda. Now I will post some reality for you.

Americans are ditching US citizenship in droves
A record number of Americans are renouncing their citizenship. In just the first half of this year, 5,315 Americans gave up their citizenship. That puts the country on track to see a record-breaking 10,000 people renounce U.S. citizenship in 2020. Until a decade ago, fewer than 1,000 Americans per year, on average, chose to renounce their citizenship.

The financial factor
While many liberal Americans threatened to move abroad after Trump’s election in 2016, rising renunciations are not directly attributable to any particular election result. The trend began in 2013, mid-way through the Obama administration. That year about 3,000 Americans suddenly gave up their passports – three times more than usual.

Nor are people fleeing the U.S. because of the coronavirus. The paperwork for the 5,315 renunciations completed so far this year began long before COVID-19 ravaged the country and made Americans global pariahs.

Americans are renouncing US citizenship in record numbers – but maybe not for the reasons you think

Some 10,000 people are likely to give up their US passport this year, way above average. Are they fleeing COVID-19? Nasty politics? Taxes? None of the above, says an expert on American citizenship.

theconversation.com

 

[bbccdd1470]

China should just let these people leave and revoke their citizenship. HK will be a better place without these protesters and rioters.

From what I understand, China really views that act as UK takes advantage of China, since UK does screening on those who could or couldn't become a UK citizen, as a contradiction to what the UK claims as an obligation to HK people (IMO The best way is to offer anyone who had born in colonial HK before 97 a citizenship if they want to leave HK and become UK citizens.) Now the UK is only taking the professionals and the one with means with full criminal check, while those young or poor rioters that are problematic and anti-state will remain or send back to HK. The whole thing is pure financial and economic motivated.

 

[WinterFangs]

Where will they move to? Not London because theres already housing issues here.
what jobs? There’s already a huge unemployment issue,including me, that’s why I’m just investing and hoping to make huge profits from that. And the unemployment issue will get worse this year, no jobs expected till next year.

 

[ARMalik]

Weary from political strife and a pandemic, some Americans are fleeing the country

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/weary-from-political-strife-and-a-pandemic-some-americans-are-fleeing-the-country/2020/11/02/ee66038c-f840-11ea-89e3-4b9efa36dc64_story.html

 

[gambit]

Weary from political strife and a pandemic, some Americans are fleeing the country

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/weary-from-political-strife-and-a-pandemic-some-americans-are-fleeing-the-country/2020/11/02/ee66038c-f840-11ea-89e3-4b9efa36dc64_story.html

And how many new US citizens in 2020?

 

[Globenim]

And if the british govt. care to explain how they gonna provide the jobs to them to the already deteriorating job market. Have they realized that how many are actually sitting at home and waiting for a miracle to happen. This is ridiculous.

This selfmasturbatory propaganda panderning to low IQ retards is just conflating regular back and foward migration numbers that goes beyond thousands in both directions with a handful US propaganda indoctrinated puppets. They obviously neither actually expect any significant numbers nor intend to welcome them. They are just patting on their own back and sneer over China while doing nothing. The first British propaganda article from this campaign even used a Chinese expat whos working for a Chinese company in Britain for years to fool the usual idiots who dont even read past the headline and just assume the image of the family must be "Hong Kong refugees".

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

As usual you are posting nonsense and bull.shi,t on this forum. This is all garbage and nonsense. In fact a similar article appeared in Australia many months back which was proven to be fake propaganda. Now I will post some reality for you.

Americans are ditching US citizenship in droves
A record number of Americans are renouncing their citizenship. In just the first half of this year, 5,315 Americans gave up their citizenship. That puts the country on track to see a record-breaking 10,000 people renounce U.S. citizenship in 2020. Until a decade ago, fewer than 1,000 Americans per year, on average, chose to renounce their citizenship.

The financial factor
While many liberal Americans threatened to move abroad after Trump’s election in 2016, rising renunciations are not directly attributable to any particular election result. The trend began in 2013, mid-way through the Obama administration. That year about 3,000 Americans suddenly gave up their passports – three times more than usual.

Nor are people fleeing the U.S. because of the coronavirus. The paperwork for the 5,315 renunciations completed so far this year began long before COVID-19 ravaged the country and made Americans global pariahs.

Americans are renouncing US citizenship in record numbers – but maybe not for the reasons you think

Some 10,000 people are likely to give up their US passport this year, way above average. Are they fleeing COVID-19? Nasty politics? Taxes? None of the above, says an expert on American citizenship.

theconversation.com

Yes, an earlier version of that article was posted here on PDF and I replied to it...note unlike you I wasn't getting into a tizzy screaming liar and fakenews like a spoiled and outraged one-child-policy 8 year old.

Leaving the USA: Number of Americans Renouncing Citizenship Spikes in 2020

Leaving the USA: Number of Americans Renouncing Citizenship Spikes in 2020 19:00 GMT 12.05.2020 (updated 19:04 GMT 12.05.2020) © CC0 / Pixabay The first three months of the year have seen record numbers of US citizenship renunciations. One expert argues that the current surge in Americans...

defence.pk

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

And how many new US citizens in 2020?

I think many countries would be ecstatic if the percent of people leaving a year matched our numbers.

Less than 10,000 of 328M.


Hey look how many people fled from China and renounced their citizenship for a US one.

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2019/naturalizations_2019.pdf

Seems like a flood going one way

 

[kankan326]

It is very simple, Because no choice ..

You mean Chinese have no choice but staying in China? Wrong answer. China is not N.Korea. There are two facts you should know.

1, China is a "free to leave" country. As long as there is a country that accepts you, you can leave at any time.
2, China has the largest middle class population in the world. They can afford migrating to other countries if they want.

There are hundred thousand Chinese students studying in UK. Most of them come back to China after they graduate.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

There are hundred thousand Chinese students studying in UK. Most of them come back to China after they graduate.

Britain doesn't have open borders so of course they have to leave. A hundred thousand students can't stay even if they all begged on their knees to.

 

[Dungeness]

This is a wonderful news, and everyone involved wins! Win for Mainland China, for HK, for UK, and of course for those who fled.

 

[kankan326]

Britain doesn't have open borders so of course they have to leave. A hundred thousand students can't stay even if they all begged to.

Please don't lie. My niece graduated from University of Manchester two years ago. She never thought of staying in UK. Before she graduated, her parents went to UK to see her. Their bag was stolen. Money, phone, passport were all gone. That was nightmare experience.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Please don't lie. My niece graduated from University of Manchester two years ago. She never thought of staying in UK. Before she graduated, her parents went to UK to see her. Their bag was stolen. Money, phone, possport were all gone. That was nightmare experience.

Oh are you saying it is perfectly legal for 100,000 Chinese students to simply stay indefinitely in the UK?

Or are you lying? Please fill everybody in on this new UK policy..we'd all love to hear it.