Two ‘BN(O)ers’ went to war, almost
- Despite their idealism, a pair of former local residents who emigrated to Britain had learned that fighting Hong Kong police and braving tear gas and rubber bullets did not count as experience in a real war in Ukraine
A profile of two Hong Kong “BN(O)ers” by the Chinese-language service of the BBC is a must read. Written, I thought initially, with sympathy for its two subjects, I now realise it was a subtle journalistic exercise in the tradition of Lu Xun, modern China’s greatest literary satirist. It offers great insights into a certain type of mentality common among local young people.
The story profiles two former Hong Kong residents who have moved to Britain using their BN(O) passport status. Spenser and Alice (not her real name) were both frontline participants in the anti-government riots/protests in 2019 and fled what they described as “tyranny” in Hong Kong.
After listening to the appeal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for international volunteer fighters, Spenser, aged 25, and Alice, age not disclosed, decided to join, respectively as a soldier and a nurse.
Strained ties, bittersweet feel: ex-Hongkongers who left under BN(O) bid look back on city
Spenser said he had fought Hong Kong police “in the front line” while Alice had tended to the injured “from tear gas and rubber bullets” during those riots/protests. Both believed their “frontline experience” would help them in fighting for Ukraine. After all, the cause of Hong Kong people in 2019, Spenser claimed, was the same as that of the Ukrainians today.
“Freedom is not free,” he declared. “Many people use corpses and blood to exchange for the freedom of this generation.”
And he asked angrily: “Is it not impossible for a nation of Ukrainians to endure being invaded by Russia?”
At the start of March, they flew to Krakow, Poland’s second-largest city, from where they would be picked up to pass through Rzeszow, a city in southeastern Poland, before arriving at a military base near the border in Uzbekistan to stand by.
Why Hongkongers on BN(O) scheme find themselves at career crossroads
But, before being inducted into the international volunteer corps, they were asked to sign a contract. That was when they had second thoughts.
“Unexpectedly, just before the realisation of their volunteer assistance to Ukraine, the original passion and excitement quickly cooled down in front of a contract they had never heard of or seen before,” the BBC report said.
“It turned out that … once in, the two had no right to leave Ukraine as long as the war was not over.”
The pair decided to “hold their horses” and returned to Poland. They are now, thankfully, back safely in Britain where they can continue to fight for freedom in Hong Kong and Ukraine.
