China says UK citizenship pathway for Hong Kong residents violates international law

[GinBoy2]

48 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

That's probably because "racism" these days covers just about anything. This is not about the Asian race, it's about culture. Hong Kong is a former British colony and is still close enough valuewise for the Hongkongers to be able to melt into British system. Mainlanders are not.

Well thats an interesting comment.

 

In 1997 Hong Kongers were granted BNO passports, whereas Falkland Islander & Gibraltarians were granted full UK passports.

 

Now we can all speculate on why that distinction was made, but I'd argue the reason is fairly obvious.

 

I'm an American, but a bit of an Anglophile.

 

One of the most generous things the British ever did was enact the 1948 Immigration Act giving full citizenship to former colonial subjects. I'm sure at the time they never believed that millions would actually take up that right.

 

But it saved many from the horrors of expulsions in Uganda and East Africa.

 

Of course over the years from the Rivers of Blood Speech the inherent racism crept back in, leading to Hong Kongers not being treated the same as let's say a white Falkland Islander.

 

I will say that the offer to Hong Kongers of full British citizenship is generous, but it should have been made in 1997