‘Never seen that before’: Some Hong Kong residents hit the panic button as security law revives rush for the emigration gates

Immigration consultants have fielded hundreds of new calls since China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) unveiled the controversial plan on May 21, bypassing the local legislature

Some are accelerating their decision to buy property overseas, while others are cutting their asking price for local properties.

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Passengers at the Hong Kong Airlines check in counter, Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok on 29 November 2019. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 8:15am, 31 May 2020Updated: 2:21pm, 1 Jun 2020

Corrected [2:21pm, 1 Jun, 2020]

[2:21pm, 1 Jun, 2020]
In the fourth paragraph from the bottom of this story published on May 31, we misspelled the name of Devon Owen. This has been corrected.

Hong Kong’s residents, who emigrated en masse before the city’s return to China’s sovereignty in 1997, are hitting the inquiry lines again, amid concerns that the Chinese government’s planned national security law would curtail what’s left of their political freedom.

Immigration consultants have fielded hundreds of new calls since China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) unveiled the controversial plan on May 21, bypassing the local legislature. Some are accelerating their decision to buy property overseas, while others are cutting their asking price for local properties.

“The day after that proposal, we received over a hundred calls,” said Andrew Lo, chief executive at Anlex, a Hong Kong-based immigration consultancy firm. “People are restless. They ask if they can leave the next day.”

From the biggest stock sell-off in almost five years to failed home sales, Hong Kong has turned into a pawn in the escalating rivalry between the US and China over trade, technology and capital markets. US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he would revoke Hong Kong’s special customs status, following the declaration by his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the city could no longer be considered an “autonomous” region that deserved to be treated separately from mainland China.

The attempt by the Chinese legislature to throttle secession, subversion, terrorism, foreign interference or activities that threaten national security, has been greeted with violent street rallies, as anti-government protesters reignited their opposition to any move to tie Hong Kong closer to the mainland.