At the entrance of Chinatown in London stands a decorated Chinese arch with four Chinese characters meaning “China at peace”. Swinging in the breeze are lines and lines of red lanterns used to celebrate occasions of joy and harmony. But to Hong Kong newcomers in the UK, the quarter symbolises the authoritarian regime that forced them to leave home for freedom and for good.
In January, a visa programme was introduced for Hong Kong residents with British national (overseas) status, offering them the chance to live and work in the UK, with an eventual path to British citizenship. The programme was a response to Beijing’s crackdown on opposition groups and the imposition of a sweeping national security law in the former British colony, which sharply restricted freedom of expression.
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