Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980
The post-1945 influx of Chinese immigrants from Mainland China put a strain on colonial Hong Kong’s limited housing stock and under-developed welfare and education systems. In response, the colonial government introduced a ‘Touch Base’ policy in 1974. Thereafter, all Chinese immigrants who failed to...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161515 |
| _version_ | 1811695930454310912 |
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| author | Mok, Florence |
| author2 | School of Humanities |
| author_facet | School of Humanities Mok, Florence |
| author_sort | Mok, Florence |
| collection | NTU |
| description | The post-1945 influx of Chinese immigrants from Mainland China put a strain on colonial Hong Kong’s limited housing stock and under-developed welfare and education systems. In response, the colonial government introduced a ‘Touch Base’ policy in 1974. Thereafter, all Chinese immigrants who failed to ‘touch base’, that is, reach urban areas of Hong Kong, faced repatriation. This article examines the origins and effects of the ‘Touch Base’ policy, focusing on how Sino-British relations and the anti-immigration discourse in Hong Kong affected policy-making, and vice versa. It argues that the policy change, a product of a new form of Sino-British diplomacy, was underpinned by popular hostility towards Chinese immigrants. The article further argues that this policy shift also reinforced the emergent differentiation between the Hong Kong Chinese and Mainland Chinese immigrants amongst the Hong Kong population. Hitherto, historians have explored the issue of post-1945 immigration using archival sources from the early Cold War period, but have not traced the origins of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that continues to be felt today. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:31:17Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/161515 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:31:17Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1615152022-09-06T05:45:10Z Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980 Mok, Florence School of Humanities Humanities::History Immigration Sino-British Relations The post-1945 influx of Chinese immigrants from Mainland China put a strain on colonial Hong Kong’s limited housing stock and under-developed welfare and education systems. In response, the colonial government introduced a ‘Touch Base’ policy in 1974. Thereafter, all Chinese immigrants who failed to ‘touch base’, that is, reach urban areas of Hong Kong, faced repatriation. This article examines the origins and effects of the ‘Touch Base’ policy, focusing on how Sino-British relations and the anti-immigration discourse in Hong Kong affected policy-making, and vice versa. It argues that the policy change, a product of a new form of Sino-British diplomacy, was underpinned by popular hostility towards Chinese immigrants. The article further argues that this policy shift also reinforced the emergent differentiation between the Hong Kong Chinese and Mainland Chinese immigrants amongst the Hong Kong population. Hitherto, historians have explored the issue of post-1945 immigration using archival sources from the early Cold War period, but have not traced the origins of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that continues to be felt today. 2022-09-06T05:45:10Z 2022-09-06T05:45:10Z 2021 Journal Article Mok, F. (2021). Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 49(2), 339-367. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2020.1848402 0308-6534 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161515 10.1080/03086534.2020.1848402 2-s2.0-85096879806 2 49 339 367 en Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::History Immigration Sino-British Relations Mok, Florence Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980 |
| title | Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980 |
| title_full | Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980 |
| title_fullStr | Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980 |
| title_short | Chinese illicit immigration into colonial Hong Kong, c. 1970–1980 |
| title_sort | chinese illicit immigration into colonial hong kong c 1970 1980 |
| topic | Humanities::History Immigration Sino-British Relations |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161515 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mokflorence chineseillicitimmigrationintocolonialhongkongc19701980 |