GENERAL
GEMINI
NEWS
SERVICE
GG6564
WHY THE CHINESE FLOCK TO HONG KONG
It is estimated that one hundred thousand Chinese have crossed the border into Hong Kong illegally this year and merged with the population. Those admitted legally number nearly 60,000. These, on top of the Vietnam boat people (at least 70,000 have arrived this year), create enormous problems for the colony. When Chairman Hua was in London recently he promised Britain's Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher he would do what he could to reduce the traffic. Gemini News Service explains why the Chinese find Hong Kong so attractive.
By FRENA BLOOMFIELD
HONG KONG
Approx 900 words
So far this year 59,981 illegal immigrants from China have been caught in Hong Kong and sent back over the border.
A further 59,452 have been admitted as legal immigrants and it is anyone's guess how many illegals have successfully run the gauntlet of obstacles into Hong Kong and merged with the rest of the population.
An educated guess is thought to be one hundred thousand. This is
quite apart from the burden of around 68,000 Vietnamese boat people in
Hong Kong's temporary refugee camps awaiting resettlement in other
countries. (Altogether 70,000 of these refugees have arrived this year and more keep arriving.)
Even before this year's nightmarish influx of refugees from both
China and Vietnam, Hong Kong already qualified as the world's most
densely populated urban area.
Housing is scarce, sub-standard and expensive. Prices are rising all the time because nearly all Hong Kong's requirements including food -
are imported and jobs are not now as easy to find as they used to be.
Why then do they keep on coming ?
Almost all the illegals come from China's southernmost province of
Kwantung. They are mainly Cantonese, as are the great majority of all
Hong Kong Chinese and they almost certainly have relatives already in
Hong Kong. This tends to be an encouraging factor.
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