Up to 3 million Hong Kong residents are to be offered to settle in the UK (EDITED BY HQ)

The fraudulent referendum of 2016 relegated the UK to the third or fourth division of countries which could attract investmen.

mr Ko was not looking to establish a charter city in Uk as they want to be in EU if in europe.
his first choice is ireland, which also wants to grow their population, has a highly educated workforce, would welcome more opportunities, jobs. irish govt is interested.
those who have rights to come to uk could presumably go to ireland, as it is common travel area with uk.

honestly (memo to self, always preview)

Hoestly, Callistomen, that is not the reason. (see my post above)

It's purely ideological. Tories hate spending on public services and infrastructure. They want to 'shrink the state'.

Gill, there will be a lot of people who have made emergency plans.
Amazing though it may seem, they are not all rich.

we must grow our economy and our infrastructure to enable us to welcome all.

As our economy is going to be in dire straits for quite some time we're clearly not going to be able to welcome anyone

But, seriously. The creaking state of our infrastructure is a political choice, not a necessity. We have had tory governments for the last 10 years which have slashed government spending for entirely ideological reasons.

Infrastructure doesn't just appear out of thin air, it has to be funded, by government. There's been absolutely no reason why it couldn't have been funded. Taxation doesn't fund spending. The government is able to spend as much as it needs/wants. It just hasn't wanted to spend anything.

Our infrastructure is old, creaking and poorly maintained because we don't pay enough in tax.
I would think that HK Chinese may well be hardworking and enterprising, therefore pay a lot in tax.

Personally I choose to ignore all racist comments as worthy of such contempt. I will however acknowledge concerns regarding the creaking strain on our infrastructure by uncontrolled immigration. While people immediately jump on the latter comment as being racist discussion is quashed. We can surely have the discussion to try to deal with the issues without predictable reaction on both sides.
It is not racist to know that we must grow our economy and our infrastructure to enable us to welcome all.

As I understand it, a lot of HK Chinese bought properties in London in case of this very predictable eventuality. I think the government are doing the morally right thing here, this is not just about people protesting about the loss of their rights and freedoms it is about China's blatant and very provocative 'ripping up' of the handover agreement. Those backbenchers who are concerned about Huaweii are absolutely correct, and as for the very idea of the Chinese being involved in nuclear power stations.................

I was listening to an interview with one of the members of the think tank that came up with this idea.
I personally can’t see the point. I believe that the Hongkongers will integrate with our population quite easily.
However, there may be, but I don’t know, that there could be an economic advantage to our Government to have one country two systems!
We could reclaim land in the Thames estuary and put paid to another airport. Just joking?

Davidhs my DD lives in Sydney , she works in a government department and says they will be welcome there.

“About a fifth of people who live in New Zealand were born overseas,“

They are indeed, a lot of Pacific Islanders, plenty of Brits, the fact remains if you are well qualified and want to earn good money you go overseas. My sister lives in Brisbane and complains about immigrants - Kiwis who can work in OZ without a visa. LOL

It does seem strange.
Surely integration is the way forward?

Maybe countries wishing to establish a Hong Kong in other lands should ask Israel for advice. The more I think about it, the more daft it seems.

About a fifth of people who live in New Zealand were born overseas, Davidhs.
That is quite a high proportion.
People I know who moved there have gone to work in various careers and some have set up their own businesses since.

“New Zealand is a popular destination”

NZ has just introduced regulations to prevent foreigners from buying houses.
Should not affect those who become NZ citizens, some might if they have a good reason to leave HK permanently, the new law should not affect the ability to make money in HK.
New Zealand might be a nice place to retire or take a holiday, the opportunities to make a living are very limited, that’s why so many Kiwis work overseas.

something I could NOT countenance!!

Oh and GNHQ if you change the heading back to its original, I would be grateful, and we will say no more about it.

Thank you welbeck

So if I understand it correctly a charter city is a city built on territorial land - say the U.K., but has its own laws and jurisdiction?

A sort of overseas Hong Kong. It would compose of up to 2 million people living with but separately from the U.K.

It’s low tax low regulation regime would undoubtedly be attractive to business, and eventually become a magnet that challenges London.

Well, tbh, I can see huge problems with the idea, not least whether a new city of 2 million people on this crowded island would be welcome. It’s challenge to existing financial centres would also be an issue together with its legal regime of low regulation and low tax. It is a regime that has so far been rejected by the U.K. government - although with something like that on out doorstep the temptation to follow suit would be enormous and change the British culture.

From my point of view a new city would claim precious land that once again crowds out nature and our dwindling wildlife, something I could countenance.

www.finews.asia/high-end/32117-property-tycoon-eyes-ireland-to-build-new-hong-kong

you can read more about it here.

New Zealand is a popular destination

growstuff

Unless the rules are changed, it looks like Hong Kongers aged between 18-23 are not eligible for residency/citizenship in the UK under current proposals. Too old to be a dependant, too young to qualify for BNO status.

They are the ones most likely to be have been involved in the protests and will be left like sitting ducks.

Those who were born after 1st July 1997, presumably and who are over 18.
What would happen if they are 17 or younger and come here with parents- would they then be deported on reaching 18?
It has happened to others, despite protests.

welbeck that is interesting, but something I’ve never heard of. I need to read more about it before I can make an intelligent reply?

What I have been reading is that the change in the governments attitude to the Hong Kongers is not quite so simple as it looks.

There is apparently a lot of Tory back benchers who are very against further close links with China, and in particular the Huewai link. This group has strength in numbers and a rebellion is threatened, which is why the government appears to be hardening its stance.

I think that the invitation to the Hong kongers was a calculated risk in the knowledge that the vast majority of them will choose to settle elsewhere like Canada or Australia and Taiwan.

Stuff from Kuenssberg

his name is Ivan Ko.

Unless the rules are changed, it looks like Hong Kongers aged between 18-23 are not eligible for residency/citizenship in the UK under current proposals. Too old to be a dependant, too young to qualify for BNO status.

They are the ones most likely to be have been involved in the protests and will be left like sitting ducks.

i didn't quite understand the original title.
i assumed it was a typo. but read it anyway as interested in the hong kong subject.
have just heard an interesting piece on radio 4, re a proposal by a HK property developer to create new charter cities in other countries, which will be half HK people and half locals.
they are looking at a few countries, and their first choice is Ireland. they have had talks with irish govt, and were due to visit 6 poss sites in feb. then covid struck. so they hope to go view, discuss further sometime soon.
they would be complete cities in undeveloped areas, creating jobs, opportunities etc. he mentioned offices, private schools, hospitals, housing etc.
the irish like the idea, and they want to grow their population by one million.
uk would not fit the criteria for the charter cities, as they want to be in the EU. as well as english speaking, democratic, common law.