Britons Pulling Out Of Hk Ahead Of Handover

Britons are pulling out of Hong Kong ahead of the colonys return to Chinese rule this year, the South China Morning Post said yesterday.

The newspaper said the number of resident Britons slumped by 25 per cent over the past 10 months, the first drop in their number since 1991.

Between February and December last year, the number of British expatriates fell from a high of 34,500 to 25,500, while the expatriate community overall increased by 18 per cent to 438,200. Hong Kongs population totals around 6.2 million people.

The paper ascribed the trend to an ebb in the floating population of British backpackers, students and specialist consultants working on infrastructure projects such as Hong Kongs new Chek Lap Kok airport.

 

Britons at present are not required to obtain work visas in order to obtain employment in Hong Kong but this will change upon the handover of the British colony to China at midnight on June 30, 1997.

The Hong Kong government is currently drafting legislation to change the status of Britons and bring them in line with other nationalities.

The paper quoted the British Chamber of Commerce as saying the number of British companies was increasing in numbers. According to quarterly polls commissioned by the paper along with a Chinese language paper, confidence in the territorys political and economic future has soar- ed.With the resumption of mainland rule just five months away, Hong Kong people have voted January the best start to any year since the Beijing military crackdown of 1989, the paper said.

Political confidence returns to highest levels since before June 4 (1989 crackdown around Tiananmen), the Chinese language Ming Pao newspaper said.

The poll quoted was conducted by Survey Research Hong Kong which tapped the views of 1,068 adults between January 13-17. This was before a row over Chinas plans to dilute Hong Kongs civil liberties laws erupted.

The survey showed 32 percent of those polled expected economic prospects to improve in the coming year, up from only 10 per cent a year ago, the Morning Post said. More than 24 percent believe their financial situation would improve in the next 12 months compared with 13 percent a year earlier. Eighty per cent of those polled were confident about the territorys future compared with 61 percent a year earlier.

But only 18 percent of respondents said the selection of the Chief Executive had boosted their confidence while 74 percent said it had no effect. In December, a China-approved panel selected shipping magnate Tung Chee-hwa as Hong Kongs first post-colonial leader.