Leaving Hong Kong: how coronavirus, anti-government protests soured the expat dream, in a bitter blow for the city’s talent pool

Weary from the coronavirus fallout and the ongoing threat of violent unrest, Hong Kong migrants and residents consider building a new life elsewhere

American Chamber of Commerce boss says the government is ‘dropping the ball’ as the city’s international appeal takes a knock

Reading Time:5 minutes

Amid the uncertainty and division, those who have called Hong Kong their home are bidding farewell.

Published: 1:00pm, 7 Mar 2020Updated: 11:15pm, 7 Mar 2020

After living in Hong Kong for most of her life, Christine Smith-Mann has decided to put her flat up for sale and spend more time in Britain.

“It's a big move,” says the 48-year-old Hongkonger, who will divide her time between the two places after months of anti-government protests and the emergence of the deadly coronavirus in the city.

The health crisis has proved the tipping point for her decision to spend more time in Britain in the coming year, and one that still stands even with the number of confirmed cases there surpassing the Hong Kong total.

Christine Smith-Mann and her family are spending less time in Hong Kong in the wake of the protests and virus outbreak. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Frustrated by the school closures – introduced by the city to contain Covid-19’s spread and extended into late April – Smith-Mann wants her three children to see out their education in England, away from the disruption that has become routine in Hong Kong since the now-withdrawn extradition bill sparked often violent demonstrations last June.

Her 16-year-old daughter is enrolled in a boarding school from September, and her two sons will attend university in England in the autumn – a decision made before the virus, but one she feels has now been validated.

“They’re so restricted in terms of being able to go out safely during the protests. Now with the coronavirus they can’t even be in school with their peers in their last year at school,” says the owner of a public relations and communications consultancy business.

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Leaving Hong Kong: how coronavirus, anti-government protests soured the expat dream, in a bitter blow for the city’s talent pool

Weary from the coronavirus fallout and the ongoing threat of violent unrest, Hong Kong migrants and residents consider building a new life elsewhere American Chamber of Commerce boss says the government is ‘dropping the ball’ as the city’s international appeal takes a knock

Weary from the coronavirus fallout and the ongoing threat of violent unrest, Hong Kong migrants and residents consider building a new life elsewhere

American Chamber of Commerce boss says the government is ‘dropping the ball’ as the city’s international appeal takes a knock