At this time of transition and recession, Hong Kong's immigration policy is in obvious need of an overhaul. Let us not get distracted by arguments about racism. In fact, Hong Kong has been far less racist in its immigration practices than Britain and Europe generally, as well as other Asian countries. But let us focus on what should be the driving force behind immigration policy: The interests of Hong Kong generally and, by extension, the interests of China as a whole, since Hong Kong is part of China, and owes its economic viability to the continuing well-being of the mainland. With this in mind, it is clearly wrong for Hong Kong to allow itself to become a haven for economic refugees from such countries as the Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal and India. This is clearly what has happened, especially during the last few years of the British colonial administration. According to press reports, which quote Hong Kong Immigration Department figures, the number of Filipinos, Indonesians and Nepalese residing in Hong Kong by 1998 was 138,000, 45,000 and 17,000, respectively. In all cases, but especially in the case of Indonesians and Nepalese, these numbers represent significant increases over previous years. How can this be in the interests of the people of Hong Kong and mainland China? With growing unemployment, we need to maximise job opportunities for local people. We also need urgently to restructure our economy, and opening the door to cheap labour would only encourage employers to avoid productivity-enhancing measures. And if there really is a need for cheap, imported labour, we really need to give priority to people from the mainland. The mainland is struggling with rising unemployment and an economic slowdown and if we can help, we should. We owe nothing to countries such as the Philippines or Indonesia, which are known to discriminate against their Chinese minority populations. But we do owe a lot to China. There is an argument that mainland Chinese labour, if imported into Hong Kong, cannot be controlled easily. The Immigration Department is well aware that this argument is largely false. If it would only look at its files, there have been successful experiments with imports of mainland labour for everything from restaurant jobs to specific construction projects. The mainland workers went home after their contracts expired. Even if there were some 'leakages', it is surely an acceptable price to pay for the national interest. Let's stop this discrimination against Chinese, which is really a legacy of the colonial era. And let's start by re-examining what is really in Hong Kong's interests and put an end to Hong Kong being seen as a receptacle for absorbing the unemployment problem of foreign countries, none of which cares about Hong Kong's interests at all. The issue is not really about racism, but about responsible government. Just ask the government in London. Britain has been extremely restrictive in its own immigration policies for decades. DAVID NG SIT-MAN Kowloon
