Chinese security law sends Hongkongers dashing for exit

Beijing/Hong Kong, May 31

The promulgation of new security law for Hong Kong by China has resulted in a sharp increase in inquiries for immigration from the former British colony especially the city’s residents who emigrated en masse there when it returned to the Chinese control in 1997.

Immigration consultants have fielded hundreds of new calls since China’s legislature – the National People’s Congress (NPC) – unveiled the controversial plan on May 21, bypassing the local legislature, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

The legislation was subsequently approved by the NPC, much on the expected lines with an overwhelming majority on May 28, prompting US President Donald Trump to order the removal of exemptions that gave Hong Kong special status.

Trump said on Saturday that Hong Kong has no longer sufficiently autonomous from China to enjoy the special privileges with the US, in place since it left the British control in 1997.

The new law under which China can establish the presence of its security forces in Hong Kong for the first-time evoked strong protests from thousands of local people. The protests were expected to be intensified in the coming weeks.

China says the new law is aimed at throttling secession, subversion, terrorism, foreign interference or activities that threaten national security.

With Hong Kong now becoming the centre of the emerging Cold War between the US and China, a number of local people especially the city’s rich are looking to migrate to different countries.

Some are accelerating their decision to buy property overseas, while others are cutting their asking price for local properties, immigration consultancy firms in Hong Kong said.

“The day after that proposal, we received over a hundred calls,” said Andrew Lo, chief executive at Anlex, a Hong Kong-based immigration consultancy firm. “People are restless. They ask if they can leave the next day,” he told the Post.

Requests for emigration advice have jumped as a result, breaking a lull caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Midland Immigration Consultancy.

While the latest number in applications for good citizenship is not yet available, analysts expect them to rise with political temperature, the report said.

“People who were just engaging us on basic information before are now firmly committing by putting down deposits,” Gillott said, citing one customer who asked to move his “millions and millions of dollars” to Portugal. “Never seen that before.” The political factor has encouraged some high-net-worth individuals – defined as those having more than HKD 10 million (USD 1.29 million) of wealth – to diversify their assets into other cities like London, Singapore and Taiwan. — PTI