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U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

bloomberg.com

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Re: U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

#21

Post by mcfly1985 »

gambiting wrote: post #13
mcfly1985 wrote: post #4

Um, no? At what point are the citizens of a country responsible for changing it for the better? The citizens of Hong Kong need to stay and fight for the rights they desire, not run away to another country.

As a citizen of a country that was invaded and taken apart multiple times in the last 200 years(Poland) - no, that's a very noble idea, but in practice that doesn't always work. Poland has survived in the shape that it is mostly because people were able to move and cultivate the Polish language, culture and heritage elsewhere temporarily. We even had a government-in-exile for a while in London, at the time when Polan…

Sure am glad the people who fought the revolutionary war against England didn’t think like you.

Re: U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

#22

Post by rkapsoro »

mcfly1985 wrote: post #4

Um, no? At what point are the citizens of a country responsible for changing it for the better? The citizens of Hong Kong need to stay and fight for the rights they desire, not run away to another country.

Well, to the point that country is the UK, not the US. I argue the UK has a moral responsibility here: they handed (largely) free British subjects over to a tyrannical regime.

Note that I am not arguing that their responsibility is derived from their colonial past; but rather, from the handover itself. (arguably this whole mess really started with the New Territories lease. "99 years". Foolish.)

Re: U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

#23

Post by dx87 »

mcfly1985 wrote: post #4

Um, no? At what point are the citizens of a country responsible for changing it for the better? The citizens of Hong Kong need to stay and fight for the rights they desire, not run away to another country.

It doesn't have to be for altruistic reasons, I'm betting the USA would benefit from having an influx of immigrants from a developed nation that shares our values.

Re: U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

#24

Post by mcfly1985 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #15
mcfly1985 wrote: post #4

Um, no? At what point are the citizens of a country responsible for changing it for the better? The citizens of Hong Kong need to stay and fight for the rights they desire, not run away to another country.

> citizens of Hong Kong need to stay and fight for the rights they desire, not run away to another country I’ve never understood the place-over-people mentality. The rights Hong Kong is fighting for exist overseas. The people can keep their culture and spend their lives thriving in America, or stay put and fight what looks to be a losing battle against Beijing for the rest of their lives. Nobody would force anyone to…

Having just a handful of countries that are worthwhile places to live while the rest of the planet is littered with corrupt dictatorships is hardly a solution.

Re: U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

#25

Post by dx87 »

phkahler wrote: post #17
monkeyfacebag wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you feel similarly about the citizens of North Korea?

Not really the same situation in NK. But also the U.S. became what it is through standing up to the Brits. This goes for people too, at some point we all need to stand on our own. The U.S. isn't the worlds parent to run home to.

The Brits were also on the other side of the ocean, and we had substantial military support from the French. Things probably would have turned out differently if the UK could literally drive down the road to the colonies.

Re: U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

#26

Post by mcfly1985 »

bmy78 wrote: post #11
mcfly1985 wrote: post #4

Um, no? At what point are the citizens of a country responsible for changing it for the better? The citizens of Hong Kong need to stay and fight for the rights they desire, not run away to another country.

It's easy to say that when you're afforded the comforts of a Western democracy.

Comforts I have because my American ancestors stayed and fought a war for, instead of running away.

Re: U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

#29

Post by adventured »

thedudeabides5 wrote: post #8
mcfly1985 wrote: post #4

Um, no? At what point are the citizens of a country responsible for changing it for the better? The citizens of Hong Kong need to stay and fight for the rights they desire, not run away to another country.

Well, having the ability to emigrate would probably help the citizens negotiate, especially when their autonomy was just stripped through Chinese imperialism (against the 1984 Sino British Joint Declaration no less).

Plus there's really no evidence that the best & brightest in Hong Kong can do anything to scratch the surface of changing China. They were largely free - acting as a demonstration of a working system for the mainland - the past two decades and it made no difference. So now they're going to make a difference once their rights are revoked and they're entirely silenced? Of course not, they're going to vanish into the crowd of the other 1.4 billion silenced persons with no ability to speak out.

The best thing the US (Europe and others) can do, is bleed off Hong Kong's talent, those that want to escape before the door closes. It's not going to severely harm China, however every Elon Musk or Jensen Huang that the US can get to its shores is a win.

The US should immediately set up a special, aggressive immigration program just for Hong Kong and Taiwan. After China is done consolidating the situation in Hong Kong in the near future, they will turn more of their attention and aggression to Taiwan (Taiwan is aware they're up next after HK, you can tell by their recent behavior and statements; Taiwan is sweating bullets, properly so).

Re: U.S. Should Open America’s Doors to Hong Kong’s Citizens

#30

Post by rrss »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #19
86J8oyZv wrote: post #16

Yes, let's provide as much cheap labor as possible in a time of record unemployment! What could go wrong?

> cheap labor This does not describe the Hong Kongers likely and able to emigrate.

yeah, even without considering who is likely and able to emigrate, HK median income is higher than the median income of some U.S. states.
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