HONG KONG – In Western democracies, refugees are welcomed as they escape Beijing’s grip on Hong Kong.
In China, violent criminals have been condemned for escaping punishment for their treasonous activities.
The group of Hong Kong activists, who have been granted asylum in the United States, Canada and Germany in recent weeks, is the latest catalyst for the deteriorating relations between China and the West. Western leaders have insisted they will stand Human Rights In Hong Kong, Chinese officials have blamed countries for interfering in Beijing’s affairs.
The newly provided status quo of protesters since China imposed a new strict security law this summer has highlighted how proudly Hong Kong has changed. For decades, the city has been a haven for survivors of war, famine, and political oppression in mainland China. Now the semiautonomous city has become a tool for asylum seekers.
“The United States is the country that gives us freedom,” said Vicky Xiao, a 20-year-old university student in Hong Kong who lives in California and seeks asylum in the United States.
Mr Kiao said she feared she would be arrested if she returned to Hong Kong because she had taken part in demonstrations roaming the city last year. He said one of his former classmates who also took part in a demonstration in Hong Kong was detained by police.
The United States is directly challenging Beijing over its harassment of Hong Kong. For the first time, the Trump administration has moved to make a list of refugees from the city a priority – as it will reduce the number of refugees in the United States annually. There are now at least three bills before Congress can bring more security to the United States for those fleeing Hong Kong. And the government has moved unusually quickly to shelter at least two protesters who left Hong Kong late last year.
The two activists, who asked not to be named for the safety of their families in Hong Kong, were shown documents in the New York Times in which they said they had been granted asylum in September. They said they fled to the Los Angeles area after receiving several calls from unlisted numbers which made them worried they were at risk of being detained.
Mrs. Xiao, a university student awaiting a decision on her asylum application, is also in Southern California. He is currently on a student visa and lives with his parents, who are on a business visa.
He described being snatched from his parents’ home with a backpack of clothes in August last year and going to Hong Kong to join the protest without their permission. She said she had returned after three days, but had also helped protest in the United States, believing she could be at risk of arrest if she had to return to Hong Kong after her visa expired.
“I don’t know what will happen to me if I go back to Hong Kong.” Ms. Shio said. “But I don’t think the result will be good.”
China has not commented on the issue of US asylum. But the Beijing and Hong Kong governments have rejected the notion that city dwellers may need shelter from oppression, saying authorities guarantee the rights of its people. “So-called ‘refugees’ are not being persecuted in Hong Kong,” the city government said in a statement.
And officials have hit out in public in other countries. Hong Kong’s No. 2 leader, Matthew Cheng, sent a summons to the German consul general on Wednesday after Germany granted asylum to a university student accused of rioting. Mr Cheung said the move “would only send a clearly wrong message to criminals.”
In Canada, the Chinese ambassador, Kong Peiu, warned Hong Tova against accepting refugees from Hong Kong. He said such a policy would encourage criminals in the Chinese city and put 300,000 Canadian passport holders and companies in the region at risk.
The ambassador’s remarks were seen by some as a potential threat to Canadians in Hong Kong. He was also a reminder of the two Canadians who have been detained in China for nearly two years in retaliation for the arrest of a top executive at Chinese technology giant Huawei. Canada’s foreign minister, François-Philippe Champagne, condemned the remarks as “absolutely unacceptable and disturbing.” (The Chinese government later insisted that the comment was taken out of context.)
China’s terror on Hong Kong has prompted residents to consider their options elsewhere. Some have turned to Britain, the former colonial master of Hong Kong, who has expanded channels to relocate city residents.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in June that the country would allow holders of British foreign passports in Hong Kong to live and work in Britain for five years and then apply for citizenship. The residency scheme is open to about three million people.
China has criticized the plan. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday that Beijing was now considering not recognizing British foreign passports as valid travel documents.
Interest in passports has grown, with the number of foreign passport holders more than doubling to 357,000 in April, from about 170,000 in 2018. Such passports issued to Hong Kong residents before their return to China in 1997 do not grant the British government insignia but citizenship rights.
Derek Young, a 60-year-old tech salesman, Went to Britain In August to take advantage of the new policy. He said he has traveled to the mainland for work many times and has seen corruption and abuse of power. His experience assured him that he would eventually need to leave Hong Kong once he returned to Chinese rule.
“Because of my experience in China, I predicted that Hong Kong police would soon be in decline in the state,” he said by phone from Cambridge. He said the security law imposed this summer “only confirmed my fears.”
Foreign activists have also set up non-profit organizations such as Hang Aid to help Hong Kong’s opponents find refuge abroad. Popular destinations include the United States, Britain, Germany and Taiwan, which have opened government offices this summer to help asylum seekers from Hong Kong.
The group was started in June by Simon Cheng and other activists granted political asylum in Britain. Mr Cheng says he makes 10 to 15 inquiries a day about asylum procedures in Britain alone.
“I’m safe here now, but I need to help more people,” Mr Cheng said. “I can’t be like a free rider.”
Mr Cheng, a former employee of the British Consulate in Hong Kong, was detained for 15 days in mainland China last year and charged with soliciting prostitution, an allegation he denies. He says he was beaten and hung for hours in a spread eagle position while in custody, and videotaped to force a confession.
Mr Cheng said that as a foreign passport holder, he was eligible to live in Britain, but seeking asylum showed the injustice of his experience.
“I want to fight for my reputation, to show that my detention was politically motivated, that he was persecuting me internally,” he said.
