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OpinionComment
Christine Loh
Christine Loh

Opinion | Hong Kong exodus: those who choose to stay need to decide where their loyalties lie

  • It is not surprising to see many people leaving the city after the events of the past two years as history shows flight is in Hongkongers’ DNA
  • For those committed to the city, it is time to help rebuild for the long-term future as part of China

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Christine Loh

Hong Kong people have flight in their DNA. This is not surprising in light of the city’s complicated history, but now that Hong Kong has been a part of China again for more than two decades, the people of this city need to reflect on the meaning of citizenship.

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Let’s start at 1839, when the First Opium War began. It ended with China ceding Hong Kong to Britain in 1842. The Second Opium War ended with Britain grabbing Kowloon, and China eventually had to grant a 99-year lease on the New Territories to the British, too. In between, China lost the Sino-Japanese War and the Qing dynasty fell in 1911.
From 1914 until 1949, there were two world wars and a civil war between the nationalists and communists. The latter won, and in 1949 they established the People’s Republic of China. They inherited a broken country where poverty was widespread.

Hong Kong’s population increased quickly from about 2 million to 4.5 million between 1950 and after the tumultuous Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong’s death in 1976. The population had grown to almost 4.7 million by 1978 on the eve of China adopting its new policy to pursue development in earnest.

Hence, the bulk of the city’s population had elders who left the mainland at various times because of unstable politics and poverty.
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It is common for Hong Kong families to have relatives living overseas. For example, many who left the mainland after 1949 went further afield because Hong Kong was considered too close to China. Most who left saw the Maoist era in a very poor light.

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