Opinion | For Hongkongers who decide to leave, it’s time they had to choose: foreign citizenship or right of abode in Hong Kong
- Beijing has long adopted a ‘one eye open, one eye closed’ approach to Hongkongers with dual nationality
- But 23 years after the handover, those who make a conscious decision to leave and, by implication, give up on Hong Kong, should be asked to make a choice – China or a foreign country
Seeds of discord were sown well before Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, initially by its checkered history and later by design.
Hong Kong people have always been divided in their loyalties and sense of identity with the nation where they belong. Many were “brainwashed” before 1997 into perceiving China as “closed and authoritarian”, while Western societies are “free and open”.
Take my mother for example. A Hakka woman raised in Guangdong, she had little interest in acquiring British nationality by naturalisation. For most of her life, she relied on her Home Visit Permit and Certificate of Identity – issued to long-term residents who did not have British nationality – for her travel needs.
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British nationality and proficiency in English were a must, however, for those who wished to join government or rise through the British-dominated hierarchy.