Some look to leave Hong Kong

Beijing crackdowns cited, but finances often stand in way

HONG KONG — Pamela Lam’s 6-year-old son fell in love with the Hong Kong protest anthem, “Glory to Hong Kong,” the first time he heard it, and he loves singing it, at home, in the shower, and sometimes on the streets.

Because of a sweeping new national-security law, though, singing it in public is now risky. As China’s communist leaders tighten controls that many believe are stripping semiautonomous Hong Kong of its freedoms, some families are considering moving away from the former British colony, but few can afford to.

After Britain announced in May that it would allow holders of British National [Overseas] passports extended stays and a path to citizenship, thousands of Hong Kongers rushed to renew or apply for them.

That may be an option for relatively affluent Hong Kongers, who often have been educated overseas and hold multiple passports, but not for most of its 7 million residents.

One in five Hong Kong families scrapes by below the poverty line in a city with one of the biggest populations of billionaires, many of whom are tycoons who carved out lucrative niches in manufacturing, trade, property development and finance.

“I’ve thought about moving to Australia, or the U.K., but we don’t have the financial ability to do it now,” said Lam, who has a British passport.

“We don’t have to worry about putting food on the table or the clothes on our backs, but there isn’t much room for more,” said Lam, a freelance designer whose family’s monthly income is about $4,300.

Most people in most countries either cannot or would not consider moving to escape their governments. But many living in Hong Kong chose to escape the communist mainland or are descended from people who did.

Lam’s parents fled from China in the 1970s, seeking a better life free from political chaos and poverty. She joined peaceful mass protests last year and is among many younger Hong Kong residents who grew up counting on the enclave’s freedoms and hoping for greater, not less, democracy.

Beijing promised Hong Kong 50 years of a “one country, two systems” arrangement granting the city its own customs territory and legal system after the 1997 handover. They are underpinned by western-style civil liberties, such as the right to public dissent, that are rarely allowed on the Chinese mainland.

Even moving to nearby Taiwan, a self-governed island democracy that China claims as its own territory, would be a stretch financially, Lam says.

In early July, Taiwan opened an office to help Hong Kong residents interested in studying, working or starting a business to move to the island. The office said it had received over 1,000 inquiries as of July 27, mostly related to emigration.

For many families, it’s a “very tough life” in Hong Kong, especially if they have mortgages to pay off, said Paul Yip, a professor at the University of Hong Kong’s department of social work.

It’s unclear how many in Hong Kong might be considering moving.