Came across on YouTube an interview by Shaun Ley of the BBC to Alvin Yeung, the leader of the Civic Party of Hong Kong. I think it was a balance interview by a respected Western broadcast network. I would have asked similar questions as Ley did if I was the journalist.
An article in the LA Times today said that there are more people applying to emigrate out of the city. This is totally expected given the situation there. What is not expected is that the U.S. is no where near the top of the destinations for Hong Kong people. If you see the American and British flags being waved during the protests, you would think the people in Hong Kong have great confidence in the U.S. That apparently is not the case.
In the past the U.S. have always been the top country the Hong Kong people want to emigrate to. In the last couple of years, Australia has passed the U.S. and Canada is not far behind. The survey now reveals that Canada and Australia are the top destinations. Taiwan and Singapore are also ahead of the U.S. In fact the U.S. was the top choice in only 2.9% of those survey.
Keep in mind that those who apply to the U.S. and elsewhere usually have money to invest in the target country or have high education level. So they are older and richer than most of those protesting. Still, the anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Trump administration, gun violence in the U.S. and changes in immigration policies all contributed to the decline in the desirability of the U.S. The people in Hong Kong are very sophisticated in their understanding of the politics of the U.S. and elsewhere. I am sure they understand more about the Brexit or the abandonment of the Kurds in northern Syria by Trump than most people in the U.S. and U.K.
I think deep down the people in Hong Kong know they can't count on the U.S. or U.K. to rescue them. The situation in Hong Kong will lead to a brain drain out of the city. That is bad news for Hong Kong. It is also bad news for the U.S. that they will not benefit from the transfer of talent as she had in the past.
Monday, October 14, 2019
2 comments:
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Could it be that Canada and Australia are on top because of their association with Great Britain? Taiwan is interesting because it is not associated with the mainland. It's like the old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Singapore is not a big surprise, due to location and British influence in the past. Maybe it's familiarity of the culture there plus to me, has been similar to Hong Kong because of the Brits and it is highly developed. So if you're someone from HK that wants to move, you want to go somewhere that is similar from where you came from.
ReplyDeleteI think in the past, the USA was a spot people wanted to go to, because of economic opportunity. And there is still opportunity here. But like you said, there may be fear of anit-immigrant rhetoric. If I remember correctly, there was a spike in immigration from HK in the years previous to the 1997 handover. Maybe the people who wanted to leave and could leave did so already. Maybe those people have told those back in HK that things aren't that great here for them. I don't know. I'm just throwing that out there.
-LBOAYM
Connecting two points you made. Yes, being part of the Commonwealth makes Canada and Australia desirable places for Hong Kong people. Just before the handover there was massive exodus to the Commonwealth countries by people who had British passports. A rich businessman may get residency in say Toronto, buy a house there and come back to HK to continue his business. Regular people who did not have British passports and couldn't buy their way into Canada or Australia would pick the U.S. as the first choice since the U.S. was bigger and thus had more spots. Plus there are way more good colleges here for the children.
ReplyDeleteSo for many years after 1997 the U.S. was number one in migration from HK although the numbers were not great. But last couple of years that has changed dramatically so I think there is a pessimism about the U.S. Same with the UK, there is practically nobody who picked England as the first choice.
Unlike the U.S. and I think Canada and Australia as well, if you invest a huge sum you can get in, Singapore is more interested in smart people. Singapore is smaller than HK and so can't take many people. But if you are a scientist you are welcomed. So the people who are trying to go to Singapore are probably smart and attracted to the research opportunity given there. Even some Westerners are emigrating there. So this is what I mean when I say the brain drain is hurting HK and the U.S. is not in a position to benefit as before.