Posted by
HkScot
19 yrs ago
I can't believe noone else has discussed this on here, the story from todays' papers.
I've been OOT for a while, so maybe this is a well-debated topic already, but can't find any other threads about it.
Do you think this will be good for HK? Personally, being British, and having grown up in "British HK", I fear that HK will never be the international metropolis it is at present, if the border was to be extended to beyond Shenzhen.
Furthermore, if they were to do this, anyone who is currently living in Shenzhen, would no doubt have the right to remain, and therefore have open access to HK. So as soon as such an announcement is made official, the influx of other Mainlanders on SZ, in anticipation of HK opening it's border, would be a huge social factor to consider.
However, HK is a Chinese city afterall, and maybe such a change inevitable and therefore should be done too early rather than too late.
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Fabio
19 yrs ago
Yes, agree with above, there will of course be adjustment period with the usual teething social problems. But as HkScott last lines suggest, the merger will just be a case of when, not if.
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I hadn't so much been thinking about the crime increase, as unemployment, housing, over-populated schools, etc. Also, we have to realise that while HK crime may momentarily go up, Shenzhen crime will go down due to a) Better policing from the HK police and b) All the criminals have gone to HK!
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I have been working in Shenzhen for years while still living in Hong Kong. I have seen the mainland city growing rapdily but I still have concerns if it is really merged with Hong Kong.
For example, will our hospitals become even more over-crowded with influx of Shenzhen residents who seek better & cheaper (yes HK medical services are cheaper than mainland) medical services? Also, many current Shenzhen residents come from inland provinces. Will they bring their families to the future Shenzhen/HK metro? How will this population boom affect us?
Perhaps our govt would like to follow its S'pore counterparts to increase population/workforce. But a difference is that S'pore govt could control what kind of people to immigrate, while our govt cannot.
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Excuse my ignorance, but can you please expand on what you mean by comparing HK to Singapore? As far as I know, the Singapore/JB border has remained where it is for a very long time.
HK Gov keep strict control over immigration - perhaps not neccesarily fair nor politically correct, but they certainly have much better control over immigration than any Western country that I can think of.
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I'm comparing both govt's intention to increase their cities' population. Part of the driving force for HK/SZ merge is to create a metro with a population size comparable with NY or London.
HK govt does control immigration now, but it could not control what Shenzhen is doing. If family members of existing Shenzhen residents who come from inland provinces really settle down in the city before the merge, HK govt can do nothing. But obvously not all these people have the skillsets and knowledge that fit the new metro's needs.
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