Britain urged to grant automatic citizenship to Hong Kong nationals facing freedom curbs – The Sun
PEOPLE in Hong Kong facing freedom curbs under Chinese rule should be granted automatic UK citizenship, a think tank says.
Experts said it could trigger a valuable flood of highly skilled and talented professionals from the former British colony.
The influential Adam Smith Institute’s paper Doing Our Duty came as thousands of Chinese troops gathered at the border following ten weeks of increasingly violent anti-government protests.
It calls on Britain’s government to grant automatic citizenship rights to the 169,000 British nationals living there.
It also suggested English-speaking Hong Kong nationals with British values who oppose communist rule should be allowed to apply.
Britain took similar action when African tyrant Idi Amin announced the expulsion of South Asians from Uganda in 1972.
Hong Kong was a British territory until 1997, when sovereignty over the region transferred to China. But the Sino-British Joint Declaration requires the British government to maintain the rights of Hong Kong citizens until at least 2047.
THE SUN SAYS
IT’S time to demonstrate what Global Britain means — with a new visa category for Hongkongers.
When Britain handed Hong Kong to the Chinese, our Government expected Beijing to stick to its side of the deal.
They promised ‘one country, two systems’ with genuine democracy, but those promises appear to be evaporating into thin air.
As protests against the Chinese government continue, the sight of a military build-up just over the border is chilling. So what can we do from the other side of the world?
We can throw our doors open to the best and brightest in the small territory, giving them a ticket to the front of the immigration queue.
The free market Adam Smith Institute rightly says this wouldn’t just be a warning to the Chinese government to leave Hong Kong democracy alone, it would also be a huge boost to the UK economy.
And while we don’t go as far as them in saying that all Hongkongers should be waved through, it would be mad for Britain not to offer a bright, ambitious generation the chance to work here.
Leaving the EU, we’ll have the chance to build an immigration system fit for the 21st century — open and liberal but, crucially, controlled.
Even before that we can send a signal that Britain is still a home for those who want to get on in a free society.
Britain is powerless to intervene in the current situation there — but could take action by opening up a “brain drain” to the UK.
Report author Matthew Kilcoyne said: “Britain has a duty to uphold the rights of Hong Kong’s citizens in the face of excessive force being used toward protesters and laws that infringe on the autonomy of the city.
“While the UK is far away, it has a special link to these islands and a responsibility and the ability to offer a home away from Hong Kong should the need arise.”
Protesters call for boycott of Disney film Mulan
HONG Kong protesters called for a boycott of new Disney film Mulan after its Chinese-born star praised a crackdown by officers.
Liu Yifei said: “I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong.”
It sparked a #BoycottMulan campaign on Twitter. A critic raged: “Liu is a naturalised American, it must be nice. Meanwhile, she p***es on people fighting for democracy.”
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