On the 8:30 ABC Asia Pacific news tonight : a Chinese couple who face deportation for a failed asylum application. The couple reportedly cited the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing as their reasons for eligibility. What’s intriguing about this story is that the couple are from Hong Kong.
Some details were available through the ABC News Website, but strangely the article makes no mention of the couples origin. What amazes me is that this couple ever thought that they could get asylum in the first place on the grounds of persecution at home, when ever since the Tiannanmen Square “incident” thousands have demonstrated annually right on the streets of Hong Kong. This is one heck of a way (ultimately unsuccessful, I might add) to gain citizenship of another country! They achieved partial success – Mr & Mrs. Lo’s kids were granted Australian citizenship; but now the parents must go home.
Whether it was part of the deliberate plot to get the kids citizenship I don’t know – I failed to get further details. But it is clear that the concept of “thinking outside the box”, so proudly practiced by Hong Kong people, is often taken too far! If it’s any consolation – for all that has eroded in freedoms and liberties in Hong Kong recently, it’s still nice to see the city declared by some as ‘safe to demonstrate in without fear of persecution’.
If only the Lo’s had burnt a flag before their departure!
