Inside track
SIX YEARS AGO, this columnist predicted there was little prospect of Westerners living in Hong Kong ever being allowed to become Chinese citizens. Nor was this an isolated view at the time. Mr Justice Brian Keith reached a similar conclusion in his October 1995 High Court judgment in a case involving expatriate civil servants.
Beijing's Nationality Law might technically hold out the possibility that non-ethnic Chinese can become citizens in some restricted circumstances. But a secret Ministry of Public Security circular dating back several decades, which surfaced in that court case, suggested this was only ever likely to be permitted as a political favour by the mainland leadership.
And only for those who have 'shown devotion to the cause of [China's] revolution or construction', such as the handful of Western Maoists who were allowed to become Chinese citizens after the communist victory in 1949. Because virtually no Hong Kong-based expats fall into this category, it was assumed none would ever become Chinese nationals.
But last week, such pessimistic predictions were happily proved wrong as top civil servant and former British national Mike Rowse revealed he had officially become a Chinese citizen. His successful naturalisation shows once again how much China has changed since that - presumably now outdated - secret circular.
Even if the Immigration Department, which China has permitted to handle such citizenship applications since 1997, did not consult mainland authorities before granting Mr Rowse an SAR passport, his new nationality must have Beijing's blessing. That is because he has now been given a home-visit permit by mainland authorities, the document which Hong Kong Chinese use to cross the border and which Beijing denies to those it dislikes, such as leaders of the Democratic Party.
The largely monolingual Mr Rowse's successful application suggests it is not even necessary to speak Chinese to become a citizen. Although language proficiency is one of the Immigration Department's criteria for assessing applications, his case shows this can be outweighed by those who meet the Nationality Law criteria of having settled in China and having a Chinese national as a near relative.
As this includes most long-term Hong Kong residents who have a locally born spouse, tens of thousands of expatriates could be eligible to apply. The question is how many will wish to do so, especially as an SAR passport is still a less-useful travel document than those of most Western countries.
Mr Rowse is a special case. As head of Invest Hong Kong, he has the job of persuading foreign businesses to set up here. His task will be made easier if he can flourish an SAR passport, as he did on a recent trip to France, and say he is a citizen of the place in which they should invest. And citizenship also opens the door to promotion to those more senior government posts reserved for Chinese nationals.
At least one other well-known Westerner in Hong Kong is reportedly already a Chinese national. And the Immigration Department says it has received 1,213 naturalisation applications since 1997 - only 15 of which were refused - although it seems likely most were from ethnic Chinese or Eurasians with foreign passports.
Whether out of some sense of commitment to China or simply to make it easier to travel on the mainland, becoming Chinese is clearly becoming fashionable. The publicity given to Mr Rowse's experience can only encourage this trend to continue - and perhaps even spread to others within Hong Kong's expatriate community.
Danny Gittings is the Post's Editorial Pages Editor
