Hello, Hong Kong!
Well, it was there in the UK news for about 10 minutes and then it was gone: the UK government is offering asylum to any of the 2.9 million Hong Kong residents who don't feel safe now that the Beijing government has decided to crack down on their calls for democracy.
Isn't that wonderful?! Good old colonial Britain hands Hong Kong back to the Chinese Communists, fails to provide enough security for the people who live and work there and then feels obliged to let them come to the UK when it all goes to hell in a handcart.
As. It. Was. Bound. To. Do.
Why is this being treated so calmly in the UK, which seems to hate all migrants and immigrants on sight? Well, let's line up our ducks here:
There's guilt for a start: the people of Hong Kong didn't want to join China and were forced to by the Brits. Hong Kong was and is a vibrant economy with a highly educated and highly skilled population. That's why the Chinese government wants it back. But it was a British colony and, for some reason, the UK government just can't keep its hands or its eyes off countries it ruled - and exploited - in the past. So the British press frequently features South Africa (mineral wealth), Malawi (more mineral wealth) and Zimbabwe (lots of white settlers), which are now independent states and nothing to do with the Brits. They're not so keen to highlight problems in places like Myanmar(poor) and Palestine (even poorer), but then the Brits made a complete arse of those colonies and their peoples have been paying for it ever since.
There's also greed: some Hong Kong people are quite well-off. They've worked hard to build up businesses and tourism. They've also famously welcomed investment from places like - yes, the UK, China and the USA - and made it pay. Sadly, most Hong Kong people won't be coming to the UK. A lot have already gone to places like Canada and more will follow, taking their cash with them. But the UK sees this as an opportunity to make money. A lot of Hong Kong people may find the US unfriendly with Trump complaining about the 'Kung Fu Virus' that he says brought Covid-19 from China to the USA, but the 'hostile environment' the Tories have spent a decade creating for immigrants in the UK won't apply to Hong Kong people.
And finally, there's racism: we've got rid of those pesky EU nationals now that the UK is leaving the EU, but there's a shortage of labour and maybe the Hong Kong people might fill the gap. And at least the Hong Kong people don't have black or brown faces. They're not going to be shoved into hotels in the middle of Glasgow and left to rot, with no health care and inadequate food. They won't be allowed £5.65 a day to live on and forced to live with the fact they can be picked up by the police any day and dumped in a detention centre from where they'll be deported to either their country of origin (which they probably had good reason to want out of) or to the last country they touched down in (where they may not know the language and probably know no one).
I'm not even going to venture into the realms of fantasy: what if Hong Kongers come to the UK in any numbers? Where will they live? What jobs can we offer them?
It's the usual UK government balls-up. What else would you do in the middle of a pandemic, with thousands dying, many thousands more facing the loss of their livelihood and the UK economy in freefall? Of course, you offer to take in up to 2.9 million people from Hong Kong.
I wonder if any of the Hong Kong people looking to come to the UK have any experience running a country. If so, there's a job for them in Westminster. We're okay in Scotland and Wales with Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon, but there's a helluva job to be done in England.
Isn't that wonderful?! Good old colonial Britain hands Hong Kong back to the Chinese Communists, fails to provide enough security for the people who live and work there and then feels obliged to let them come to the UK when it all goes to hell in a handcart.
As. It. Was. Bound. To. Do.
Why is this being treated so calmly in the UK, which seems to hate all migrants and immigrants on sight? Well, let's line up our ducks here:
There's guilt for a start: the people of Hong Kong didn't want to join China and were forced to by the Brits. Hong Kong was and is a vibrant economy with a highly educated and highly skilled population. That's why the Chinese government wants it back. But it was a British colony and, for some reason, the UK government just can't keep its hands or its eyes off countries it ruled - and exploited - in the past. So the British press frequently features South Africa (mineral wealth), Malawi (more mineral wealth) and Zimbabwe (lots of white settlers), which are now independent states and nothing to do with the Brits. They're not so keen to highlight problems in places like Myanmar(poor) and Palestine (even poorer), but then the Brits made a complete arse of those colonies and their peoples have been paying for it ever since.
There's also greed: some Hong Kong people are quite well-off. They've worked hard to build up businesses and tourism. They've also famously welcomed investment from places like - yes, the UK, China and the USA - and made it pay. Sadly, most Hong Kong people won't be coming to the UK. A lot have already gone to places like Canada and more will follow, taking their cash with them. But the UK sees this as an opportunity to make money. A lot of Hong Kong people may find the US unfriendly with Trump complaining about the 'Kung Fu Virus' that he says brought Covid-19 from China to the USA, but the 'hostile environment' the Tories have spent a decade creating for immigrants in the UK won't apply to Hong Kong people.
And finally, there's racism: we've got rid of those pesky EU nationals now that the UK is leaving the EU, but there's a shortage of labour and maybe the Hong Kong people might fill the gap. And at least the Hong Kong people don't have black or brown faces. They're not going to be shoved into hotels in the middle of Glasgow and left to rot, with no health care and inadequate food. They won't be allowed £5.65 a day to live on and forced to live with the fact they can be picked up by the police any day and dumped in a detention centre from where they'll be deported to either their country of origin (which they probably had good reason to want out of) or to the last country they touched down in (where they may not know the language and probably know no one).
I'm not even going to venture into the realms of fantasy: what if Hong Kongers come to the UK in any numbers? Where will they live? What jobs can we offer them?
It's the usual UK government balls-up. What else would you do in the middle of a pandemic, with thousands dying, many thousands more facing the loss of their livelihood and the UK economy in freefall? Of course, you offer to take in up to 2.9 million people from Hong Kong.
I wonder if any of the Hong Kong people looking to come to the UK have any experience running a country. If so, there's a job for them in Westminster. We're okay in Scotland and Wales with Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon, but there's a helluva job to be done in England.
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