Loyalty to the motherland is proved by deeds, not words

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received as a cub reporter was: follow the money.

Don't worry about what comes out of their mouths, I was told, just focus on where they're putting their money.

The "they" were, of course, the people we were most likely to be reporting on, including political and business leaders. And this advice has proved its worth over a great many years.

Here in Hong Kong, the money trail is often obscured but if you want to know what the rich and powerful really think about the future, look closely at where they send their sons and daughters for education and, indeed, why they are avid in seeking foreign passports, a.k.a. escape documents for their offspring.

This provides a useful reality check against which to judge the loud affirmations of loyalty to the Chinese state that come out of the mouths of people who are so loyal and so committed to Hong Kong that they look overseas for a safety net.

Every chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has sent their children overseas for higher education, in at least one case, the offspring have also been furnished with overseas passports. Can you imagine the furore this sort of thing would incite in a society that elects its head of government?

One headline you will not be seeing any time soon is, "US president plans to send daughters overseas for schooling".