Double standards

Over the years, Hong Kong has become accustomed to British hypocrisy over issues of nationality. When a right of abode in the UK was retracted in 1962, people accepted this with weary resignation. Whitehall's reluctance to honor a moral obligation to war widows and ethnic minorities, until shortly before the handover, was greeted with similar sentiment.

However, even the cynical have been taken aback by the speed with which London has moved to grant passports to people in Britain's remaining colonies, now Hong Kong no longer ranks among them.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook admitted a sense of injustice exists and promised to act sympathetically and urgently. But he made no mention of an even stronger sense of injustice which exists in Hong Kong. Over three million local inhabitants, denied right of abode when they held British Dependent Territories Citizen (BDTC) passports, find these passports now suddenly confer such a right.

This proves what has been long suspected. Namely that the BDTC system, supposedly designed to ensure equal treatment of all colonies, was, in reality, a way of excluding Hong Kong citizens from the U.K. The British press said as much when reporting Mr. Cook's announcement -- the Daily Telegraph noted it was only possible now that London no longer had obligations to Hong Kong.

No one denies that residents in the rump of the British empire are entitled to have their status as British citizens restored. But it is in Hong Kong that a second passport is of greatest value, where it serves as insurance against unforeseen events. Over half a million Hong Kong citizens emigrated in search of just that security.

Emigration represents a huge personal sacrifice. Much of what these people went through could have been avoided had Whitehall had acted more honorably. So, nobody should be surprised at bitterness that Hong Kong's British passport holders will be the only ones not to benefit from London's belated generosity.

-- South China Morning Post