Refugee wave from the People's Republic of China to British Hong Kong

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Refugee wave from the People's Republic of China to British Hong Kong, colloquially Chinese refugees in Hong Kong,[1][2] refer to four immigration waves occurred in 1957, 1962, 1972 and 1979, as a safe haven of the Maoist China.[3][1]

Waves[]

Closing the border: 1950-51[]

The Border of British Hong Kong, separating it from Bao'an County, was effectively non-existent in the era of Qing dynasty and Republic of China (1912-1949) as no restrictions on freedom of movement were imposed. Hence, it has always been a haven for those fleeing the skirmishes of Chinese warlords.[3][1]

As the Maoist China isolated itself from the capitalist bloc, Guangdong's social and economic ties with British Hong Kong caught suspicion by the communist authorities.[3] In February 1951 Guangdong effectively closed the border by requiring exit permits and reentry permits. From 1949 to June 1957, British Hong Kong has already taken 700,000 refugees. Then, the refugee wave started in July 1957.[4][5]

1957[]

The flood-famine in Northern Guangdong in Spring 1957 led to a wave of refugees in July 1957. Thousands of hungry civilians gathered at the border since February claiming to "seek relatives". Hongkongers, upon seeing the scenes in newspapers, felt pity and brought food across the border and the political impact worried the Guangdong officials. On 29 June 1957, the Guangdong committee of Chinese Communist Party authorized the Bao'an County to let the hungry get across the border.[6]

1962[]

The refugee wave of 1962 were mostly fleeing the Great Chinese Famine,[7][8] in which 15-55 million perished by different statistics. The New York Times reports "In the period of one month, 80,000 men, women and children evaded border patrols and found haven here. The total number of Chinese to enter Hong Kong in 1962 is estimated at 140,000. [...] The total of refugees entering the colony from 1950 through 1963 is about 1,160,000."[9]

Population characteristics[]

Dr. Edvard Hambro wrote, "Some may not be refugees in the legal sense but are in the broader sociological and humanitarian sense."[10]

A report in 1958 by the Hong Kong government wrote, "he refugees [in 1957], however, have shown no desire to return to the mainland, even though Hong Kong is unable to offer to all the prospect of earning a reasonable living."[11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Hambro, Edvard (1957). "Chinese Refugees in Hong Kong". The Phylon Quarterly. 18 (1): 69.
  2. ^ "1167. Chinese refugees in Hong Kong". XII. Resolutions Adopted on The Reports of The Third Committee. United Nations General Assembly. 26 November 1957.
  3. ^ a b c Smart, Alan; Smart, Josephine (2008). "Time-Space Punctuation: Hong Kong's Border Regime and Limits on Mobility". Pacific Affairs. 81 (2): 182.
  4. ^ Hambro, Edvard (1957). "Chinese Refugees in Hong Kong". The Phylon Quarterly. 18 (1): 71.
  5. ^ 常洪 (2015-09-25). "解析深港边界" [An analysis of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border]. 深圳市档案局 (in Chinese).
  6. ^ 陳秉安 (2016). 大逃港（增訂本） [Da Tao Gang (Revised edition)]. Hong Kong: 香港中和出版 [Hong Kong Open Page Publishing]. p. 87-93. ISBN 9789888369539.
  7. ^ "鄧小平談大逃港：中共政策有問題　解放軍管不了". HK01 (in Chinese). 2019-08-27.
  8. ^ 黃耀忠 (2020). 從救濟到融合——香港政府的「中國難民政策」（1945-1980） (PDF). 三聯書店(香港).
  9. ^ "Million Refugees From China Crowd Housing in Hong Kong". New York Times. 1964-05-03.
  10. ^ Hambro, Edvard (1957). "Chinese Refugees in Hong Kong". The Phylon Quarterly. 18 (1): 74.
  11. ^ Commission of Labour and Commissioner of Mines, Annual Report, 1957-58, pp.60-61. As cited in Faure, David (1997). A Documentary History of Hong Kong: Society. Hong Kong University Press. p. 249. ISBN 9789882201057.
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