by Ray Keating
The Keating Files – June 3, 2020
God bless, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In a time of crisis, he is showing bold leadership, and standing firm for his nations’ commitments and principles by offering, if necessary, British citizenship to some 40 percent of the population of Hong Kong.
The communist regime in Beijing has decided to break its pledge of allowing for Hong Kong self-governance under the “one country, two systems” agreement made with Great Britain when Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997. That agreement, included in Hong Kong’s Basic law, was to be in effect until 2047. But Beijing has decided to impose a “national security” law on Hong Kong that would stomp out dissent, free speech and the region’s autonomy.
Johnson has stepped forward where other world leaders, including President Trump in the U.S., dither, doing little or nothing, so far.
Writing in an op-ed published today in the South China Morning Post, Johnson correctly pointed out: “There is something wonderful about the fact that a small island in the Pearl River Delta rose to become a great trading city and commercial powerhouse of East Asia. Wonderful, but not accidental or fortuitous. Hong Kong succeeds because its people are free.”
And now that freedom is in peril. What is Johnson willing to do, specifically? He wrote:
Today, about 350,000 of the territory’s people hold British National Overseas passports and another 2.5 million would be eligible to apply for them. At present, these passports allow visa-free access to the United Kingdom for up to six months.
If China imposes its national security law, the British government will change our immigration rules and allow any holder of these passports from Hong Kong to come to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months and be given further immigration rights, including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship.
This would amount to one of the biggest changes in our visa system in British history. If it proves necessary, the British government will take this step and take it willingly.
The Washington Post has reported, “London’s move ... would potentially grant British residency and working rights to up to 40 percent of Hong Kong’s population, raising the specter of a brain drain from the Asian financial center.”
Johnson later added:
Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life – which China pledged to uphold – is under threat. If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative...
Britain wants nothing more than for Hong Kong to succeed under “one country, two systems”. I hope that China wants the same. Let us work together to make it so.
This is leadership from the West – a free country reaching out to aid those facing communist oppression. Let’s hope and pray that China comes to behave like a civilized nation, rather than defaulting to its totalitarian ways. But given Chinese President Xi Jinping’s track record, we should not be naïve. It’s time for the United States to stand ready to help the people of Hong Kong in all ways possible, including making a similar offer as the one put forth by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
__________
See related...
See notable...
__________
Ray Keating is a columnist, economist, podcaster and entrepreneur. You can order his new book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York from Amazon or signed books at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. Keating also is a novelist. His latest novels are The Traitor: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, which is the 12th book in the series, and the second edition of Root of All Evil? A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel with a new Author Introduction. The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
Also, tune in to Ray Keating’s podcasts – the PRESS CLUB C Podcastand the Free Enterprise in Three Minutes Podcast
No comments:
Post a Comment