My TakeEthnic Chinese caught between a rock and hard place when they want to enter the mainland

Since recent reports by Reuters and Ming Pao that two Canadian-born teenagers were denied 10-year visas to China because their parents were born in Hong Kong, there has been something of a panic among the Hong Kong-Canadian community.

This is understandable. Many of us move between the two places and maintain close family and business ties in both. Naturally, we want the convenience of travelling in and out of the mainland as Hong Kong residents while enjoying the consular protection of foreigners on mainland soil – in case we run into trouble.

This was possible in the run-up to the 1997 handover and during the first few years thereafter. In recent years, however, mainland authorities have quietly enforced much tougher rules. I have personally experienced the changes in the past two decades.

As late as 1998, I could use my Canadian passport at the Shenzhen checkpoint to get a restricted visa, which was only good for a few days and only for travel within the city. It could be done in less than 30 minutes. I did that for reporting in Shenzhen and Guangdong so I didn’t have to register as a journalist and so I would be recognised as a Canadian, on the off chance I got into trouble while doing my job.