{"id":73645,"date":"2022-07-07T14:50:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T04:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=73645"},"modified":"2022-07-07T14:50:32","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T04:50:32","slug":"australia-and-its-partners-should-expand-visa-programs-to-help-hong-kong-and-punish-beijing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-should-expand-visa-programs-to-help-hong-kong-and-punish-beijing\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia and its partners should expand visa programs to help Hong Kong and punish Beijing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Xi Jinping\u2019s visit to Hong Kong during the 25th anniversary of its handing back to China helped confirm that Beijing is committed to fully subjugatin<\/a>g<\/u> the former British colony. In his speech<\/a>, Xi distorted the meaning of \u2018one country, two systems\u2019, to align with his vision of \u2018patriots\u2019 ruling Hong Kong. Meanwhile, 47 democratic politicians and campaigners potentially face<\/a> life in prison on spurious national security charges.<\/p>\n

The paranoid<\/a> security, goose-stepping<\/a> police and Putin-esque social distance<\/a> Xi maintained from his subjects reflected simmering discontent in Hong Kong, but Beijing\u2019s draconian grip prevents the people shaping their own future as they tried to do in mass protests in 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n

Hongkongers can only look forlornly overseas for hope. Unfortunately, despite British Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s pledge<\/a> that \u2018we\u2019re not giving up on Hong Kong\u2019, there is scant prospect of Hong Kong regaining the freedoms the Chinese Communist Party has stolen.<\/p>\n

But even if Hong Kong is effectively lost, we must still ensure Beijing feels the cost of its actions to deter it from further aggression.<\/p>\n

So far, international condemnation has been piecemeal and ineffective. Western politicians marked the 1 July anniversary with familiar rhetoric. Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged<\/a> Beijing to uphold the freedoms guaranteed until 2047 by the Sino-British Joint Declaration, an extant treaty registered<\/a> at the UN, and enshrined in the Basic Law, Hong Kong\u2019s de facto constitution.<\/p>\n

But even the West\u2019s appetite for statements is receding. While the G7 criticised<\/a> John Lee\u2019s appointment as Hong Kong\u2019s chief executive in May, there was nothing jointly marking 1 July like the Five Eyes\u2019 statements of the past<\/a>. In joint action at the UN, Hong Kong slips behind<\/a> Xinjiang in the rollcall of Chinese human rights abuses. Burdened with the combined challenge posed by China and Russia, and dealing with supply shortages, inflation and looming recession, the West lacks the bandwidth to keep international attention focused on Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Beyond public rhetoric, legal avenues look uninviting.<\/p>\n

There is no realistic<\/a> hope of using an international court to hold Beijing to account for breaching treaty commitments. And, as the Philippines discovered over the South China Sea in 2016, China simply ignores<\/a> arbitral decisions its doesn\u2019t like. Some foreign judges have withdrawn<\/a> cooperation with Hong Kong\u2019s highest court to avoid what British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called<\/a> the risk of \u2018legitimising oppression\u2019. But a handful of retired foreign judges, including three from Australia, have exercised their independence by staying\u2014much to the enjoyment of CCP propagandists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sanctions also appear ineffective. The US revoked<\/a> Hong Kong\u2019s special status and has sanctioned a handful of high-profile individuals, including<\/a> Lee, but they seem to be weathering the pressure despite some inconveniences<\/a>. Under the Hong Kong autonomy act<\/a>, foreign financial institutions that knowingly transact with sanctioned individuals are also targets, but the US Treasury is yet to find<\/a> such ties.<\/p>\n

Other countries have hesitated to apply sanctions, despite parliamentary lobbying in Australia<\/a>, Britain<\/a> and the EU<\/a>. Greed and cowardice might be factors. But Western countries also have legitimate concerns about hurting Hongkongers and aiding Beijing by inadvertently accelerating homogenisation with the mainland.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, many foreign businesses are relocating<\/a>. But this seems more because of the \u2018Covid zero\u2019<\/a> strategy, which Beijing supports despite Hong Kong\u2019s economic contraction<\/a>, rather than reasons of conscience or mounting political risk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fundamentally, Beijing seems unconcerned by Western opprobrium or economic blowback.<\/p>\n

In his 1 July speech, Xi spoke warmly of a place in Hong Kong for \u2018foreign friends\u2019, but his call to remove all \u2018interference\u2019 was the real message. In relative terms, Hong Kong is not as economically important<\/a> to the mainland as it used to be. And, ultimately, the CCP always prioritises control and subservience over other considerations.<\/p>\n

So, having taken stock of the West\u2019s options, the only remaining policy that can offer hope to Hongkongers and impose long-term costs on Beijing is expanding facilitated migration.<\/p>\n

Significant numbers<\/a> of Hongkongers are already voting with their feet. While businesses favour<\/a> Singapore, Britain is attracting a good share of permanent migrants. More than 120,000 Hongkongers are already on the pathway to UK residency launched<\/a> in January 2021 for so-called British Nationals (Overseas), or BN(O)\u2014a unique<\/a> identity available to nearly three million people tracing ties back to pre-handover Hong Kong, plus more than two million of their dependents. At smaller scale, Australia<\/a> and Canada<\/a> have also launched new routes to residency, while the US has acted to assist<\/a> refugees and delay<\/a> mandatory returns.<\/p>\n

There are also potentially huge benefits for recipient countries, reflecting the skills many migrants bring, including high education and English-language standards<\/a>. The British Home Office estimates<\/a> that around 300,000 eligible Hongkongers will arrive in the first five years of the scheme. In narrow economic terms, this should increase growth in the UK by at least \u00a32.4 billion (around $4.2 billion) over that time. The social and cultural benefits are much wider.<\/p>\n

Beyond ceasing<\/a> to recognise BN(O) passport holders, Beijing seems relatively unconcerned while Hong Kong\u2019s workforce is backfilled<\/a> with more politically acquiescent<\/a> mainlanders. As Britain\u2019s last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, reflects in the postscript of his newly published<\/a> diaries, Beijing\u2019s \u2018ideal city will be a Hong Kong without Hongkongers, they want Hong Kong with political lobotomy\u2019.<\/p>\n

But migration from Hong Kong poses a long-term headache for the CCP. As Patten notes, Hong Kong\u2019s pre-1997 population consisted of \u2018refugees from some of the worst excesses of communism\u2019, which shaped their opinions of the CCP. As the Hong Kong population grows<\/a> in Australia and other Western countries, many of its members can be expected to speak out<\/a> against the CCP and its abuses, working with established communities including Tibetans and Uyghurs. The true cost to the CCP for betraying Hong Kong will be a motivated and resistant diaspora.<\/p>\n

It is also in the West\u2019s strategic interest to welcome Hongkongers. Inaction would embolden our authoritarian adversaries and tarnish the soft power we accrue by acting on our values, as former prime minister Bob Hawke did when he granted asylum to Chinese students in Australia after the Tiananmen<\/a> massacre. And migration can have benign, long-term effects that dictators overlook\u2014such as the contribution<\/a> East\u2013West migration made to ending Soviet tyranny.<\/p>\n

Hesitation over concerns for domestic social cohesion would play into Beijing\u2019s hands. Despite the CCP\u2019s claims<\/a>, it does not speak on behalf of all people of Chinese descent. As polling shows<\/a>, Australia\u2019s Chinese community is diverse and deserves our support. It was the Chinese consulate-general in Brisbane that applauded<\/a> the \u2018patriotic behaviour\u2019 of violent protesters at the University of Queensland in 2019\u2014we must address malign CCP influence<\/a> rather than stifle peaceful protests by our migrant communities.<\/p>\n

So, to channel<\/a> Emma Lazarus, let\u2019s open our doors to Hong Kong\u2019s \u2018huddled masses yearning to breathe free\u2019. Our gain is Beijing\u2019s pain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Xi Jinping\u2019s visit to Hong Kong during the 25th anniversary of its handing back to China helped confirm that Beijing is committed to fully subjugating the former British colony. 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