Former Hong Kong Legislative Councillor and current Hong Kong Island Central District Councillor, Francis Hui, who recently announced his exile, arrived in London on the evening of December 4, UK time. On Thursday, Raymond Hui announced on Facebook that he was “temporarily leaving Hong Kong” to live in exile. At the time, he was on an official visit to Denmark.
Hong Kong media Now News reported that Raymond Hui arrived at London Heathrow Airport from Copenhagen, Denmark on Friday evening. In an interview with Now News at the airport, he didn’t respond when asked if he had absconded on bail under the guise of an overseas visit, but said he didn’t want to discuss details at the moment and described his heart as heavy because he knew he might not be able to return to Hong Kong again.
He was arrested and prosecuted by the police several times for being in the front line of exercising parliamentary oversight during the “anti-sending” campaign, a democratic protest against the amendment of the anti-fugitive offenders ordinance, and for protesting in the Legislative Council, and is currently on bail. On November 26, he appeared in court for the “Light and Rejuvenate Tuen Mun Park” case and was granted permission by the judge to travel 72 hours prior to the trip by notifying the court and police.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong Security Bureau said in a statement Friday about the announcement of the exile of Johnnie Hsu, “Anyone who breaks the law and makes a case to the court to abscond is guilty of an even greater crime.
Before announcing his exile, Xu Zhi-Feng was a member of the Central and Western District Council of the Democratic Party and a former member of the Legislative Council. On November 11, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) passed the decision to disqualify (DQ) four Hong Kong democratic legislators, which triggered the collective resignation of the remaining 15 democratic legislators in the strongest protest, including Francis Hui Chi-Feng.
Since Francis Hui is still a member of the Central and Western District, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr. Tsui Ying-wai, said on December 5 that any elected legislator who has not attended a district council meeting for four consecutive months will lose his or her membership. He also said that he has not received any information about Francis Hui’s resignation from the Central and Western District Council.
Raymond Hui said, “I came to England with a heavy heart, because I had to cut off from Hong Kong and all the things I love, and I knew I might never have the chance to go back”. He also said, “But in a free country, every breath of air, free air, is not just for myself, it’s all for Hong Kong”.
There were reports that Xu Zhifeng’s parents, wife and two young children flew out of Hong Kong in the evening of the first day he announced his exile, and a Now News reporter asked Xu Zhifeng at Heathrow Airport if his family was in the UK, but he did not answer directly.
He did not give a direct answer. Christopher Koh told Now News that he has not yet decided whether he will stay in the UK or not. As for the identity of the person who entered the UK, Hui Ji-Feng declined to discuss more details and said that he would explain later.
In addition, according to Hong Kong media reports, Xu Zhifeng, who is already in the UK, revealed that his and his family’s bank accounts in Hong Kong have been frozen, involving at least five accounts, involving millions of dollars, describing the deposits as his life savings, but the bank did not disclose any reason.
Bloomberg reports that the UK is issuing “British National (Overseas) Passports” (BNO passport) to Hong Kong residents. This confirms predictions of a mass exodus from Hong Kong as China tightens its grip on the former British colony.
Some 216,398 Hong Kong residents were issued BNO passports in the first 10 months of this year, more than in any year since 1997, according to data provided by the British Passport Office under the Freedom Of Information Act and cited by Bloomberg. In October alone, the office issued 59,798 BNO passports to Hong Kong residents. Based on an eight-hour working day, this equates to at least five passports being issued every minute.
Since the end of June this year, when Beijing forcibly announced the implementation of the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” in Hong Kong, fears of restrictions on freedom have been triggered and a large number of Hong Kong people are planning to leave or have already left the territory. The number of passports issued by the U.K. in a single month has climbed since July, as the U.K. upgraded the status of overseas passport holders, allowing them to stay in the U.K. for up to five years and making it easier to apply for British citizenship. China has criticized the UK’s relaxation of protections for Hong Kong residents as undue interference in its internal affairs. A Foreign Office spokesman said it would consider not recognizing British nationals’ overseas passports as valid travel documents, and reserved the right to take further measures.
According to reports, British government research shows that an estimated 2.9 million Hong Kong people are eligible to obtain British National Overseas Passports, and as many as 2.3 million of their dependents. Of these people, it is estimated that more than 320,000 will move to the UK between 2021 and 2025.
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