- Lin Ziqing
- BBC News Chinese special correspondent from London
August 9, 2022
image source,BBC Chinese
The Li Jiajun family recently moved from Nottingham to London with the hope of him having the opportunity to study at university in London.
“Wow! I got an offer from LSE!”
Earlier this summer, 17-year-old Hong Kong student Li Jiajun screamed at his home in Nottingham following learning that he had been offered a conditional offer to the law department at the University of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
After receiving the result of reading at night with the lights on, he, who has always been rational and calm, showed a rare excitement like a child. He told his mother immediately, adding that “I was screaming so loudly”.
However, coming from a grass-roots single-parent family, he is afraid that because he cannot pay the high tuition fees for international students, he will helplessly watch the dream of admission in September come to nothing.
Like Li Jiajun, Hong Kong people who have immigrated to the UK with a British National (Overseas) BNO visa, because they have no pre-permanent residence or permanent residence status, and have not lived in the UK for three consecutive years, do not meet the annual cap of 9,250 pounds (regarding 88,000 Hong Kong dollars) Qualified for tuition fees for UK local students, and are not allowed to apply for any government loans and grants. If you enroll in a three-year undergraduate course, according to the latest annual fee for foreign students announced by LSE, the annual tuition fee alone is as high as 23,000 pounds (regarding 220,000 Hong Kong dollars), or even higher.
A few months ago, a number of British members of the House of Lords, members of the House of Commons, academics and civic groups jointly signed a letter urging the government to allow BNO Hong Kong people to enjoy the same tuition fees as local students. However, the government has yet to see an actual response, and the joint initiative has also been opposed by some Hong Kong and Chinese communities.
image source,AFP
He said that following seeing the implementation of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, the law has become a tool “that can harm society”
Ideal meets reality
After the anti-amendment demonstrations in 2019, Hong Kong society was in turmoil. Beijing subsequently implemented the National Security Law in Hong Kong in 2020, prompting the UK to announce the opening of the BNO Hong Kong immigration channel.
At that time, Li Jiajun’s mother was dismissed by the company and lost her job as an accounting clerk to support a family of three. She made a bold decision for the future of her two children and spent all her savings. At the end of 2020, she moved to the UK and settled in Nottingham, a city in central England, temporarily working in a Chinese restaurant to make a living.
“I saw that my mother was working hard, and I had to work so hard myself,” Li Jiajun said. “After I got the book, I stayed up late to memorize it, and I was already asking the teacher questions in class the next day.”
More than a year following moving to the UK, Li Jiajun enrolled in a British public high school, re-adjusted to a completely different curriculum, completed the British college entrance examination, and also went to a large law firm and a law firm for short-term internships, and attended two universities. He held legal and academic competitions and won the championship in one of them.
In his spare time, he will tutor Hong Kong students online to earn pocket money.
When talking regarding his ambition to study law at a university, Li Jiajun, who wears black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, speaks in the tone of a debate team from a half-ranked university. This is not only to improve his family, but also to be inspired by the dramatic changes in Hong Kong’s political situation.
“From childhood to adulthood, I have always wanted to be a doctor,” he said. One is to live a stable life, and the other is to be able to help others. But the anti-revision demonstrations that broke out in Hong Kong three years ago became his important political enlightenment. He said that he once took to the streets full of enthusiasm, but following seeing the implementation of the “National Security Law”, the law has become a tool that “can endanger society”.
“As Lu Xun said, studying medicine can save one person, but not the whole society.” After thinking regarding it, he decided to study law. In the future, whether he pursues a career in politics or joins the legal profession, he hopes to continue his pursuit of justice and the rule of law.
However, following talking regarding his ideals and pursuits, the reality before Li Jiajun is that he cannot pay the tuition fees of international students without loan support, and his relatives are helpless. He had also intended to enroll in a legal apprenticeship program, but was unable to qualify.
Li Jiajun’s case is not an isolated one.
image source,Archyde.com
UK receives 123,000 BNO visa applications
Should BNOs who moved to the UK enjoy the treatment of local students?
Steve Ballinger, communications director for British Future, a British think tank, said he had heard over and over once more concerns regarding university fees in meetings with Hong Kong people’s groups. The think tank then launched a joint signature at the end of May, demanding that BNO Hong Kong people be eligible for local tuition fees. He said the initiative had “very enthusiastic support in (UK) politics, higher education and civic groups”.
Ballinger believes that the high tuition fees in the UK should not hinder Hong Kong students from making a better contribution to British society; moreover, “most Hong Kong people come here and make their home here, and we should treat them as members of the writers” and regard them as local.
Since the opening of the BNO visa scheme in late January last year to March this year, the UK Home Office has received 123,000 visa applications and 113,000 applications have been approved.
There are no official figures on how many of them will graduate from secondary school in the next five years. In addition, the United Kingdom also officially announced a few days ago that it will expand the scope to allow young Hong Kongers born following 1997 and one of their parents holds BNO status to apply for BNO visas independently. This group of young people who can move to the UK without family support will also have a demand for university.
However, the biggest opposition to the “local student treatment” initiative comes from the Hong Kong community. Many online groups in the UK and Hong Kong have had heated discussions on this.
Among those who oppose it is CoCo, a former social welfare worker in Hong Kong in her 40s.
“We Hong Kongers who moved there have not officially contributed anything to the country or society, nor have we started paying taxes,” she said, ineligible for the preferential treatment for local students.
“I don’t want Hong Kong people to come to the UK, and the British people will think that you Hong Kong people are here to seek benefits,” she said.
CoCo has successfully applied for a visa to come to the UK and moved to Sheffield (Snowport), Key Yorkshire this month, to study a Masters in Art Therapy. She admits that the tuition burden is heavy, but “I am willing to pay the fee, and my family will help.”
Scholars say that “the Hong Kong people who immigrated to the UK have a diverse community with different economic abilities”
Why are there objections?
Jiang Ruiting, an assistant professor of social work at the Department of Sociology at Durham University, explained that the social and economic abilities of the Hong Kong people who immigrated to the UK were disparate. It is very necessary, and the opinions and concerns within the community are divided.
As for the opposition in the community, Jiang Ruiting said that part of it is related to their desire to become “better migrants”, hoping to prove that they are different from economic migrants who snatch local resources and that they did not come to the UK for welfare , but to make a contribution that is valuable to British society. In addition, some older Chinese immigrants think, “They didn’t have these benefits back then, so why do new arrivals come to seek these benefits?”
Jiang Ruiting believes that, in principle, immigrants have the right to receive higher education no matter where they come from. From a practical point of view, if the British government subsidizes BNO Hong Kong students to study at universities with local tuition fees or loans, it is also an investment in future talents.
BBC Chinese has inquired with the British Ministry of Education. The authority said, “We are aware of the letter from the association and will respond in due course.”
The government has not seen any intention to change the tuition fee policy. Jiang Ruiting and Ballinger believe that universities or relevant government departments are worth looking into other ways, such as the establishment of Hong Kong bursaries to assist BNO Hong Kong students to enter universities.
image source,BBC Chinese
Li Jiajun said that what he missed most following moving to England was his classmates in Hong Kong. Because he left Hong Kong in a hurry, he did not say goodbye to his friends.
Would you consider going back to Hong Kong?
Even though he knew that his family might not afford to pay for college tuition, Li Jiajun still enrolled in a number of law courses, hoping to get a scholarship to further his studies.
Li Jiajun’s family recently moved from Nottingham to London with the hope that he would have a chance to study in London.
A few weeks following his interview with the BBC in Chinese, he received an email from the London School of Economics. But this time came the bad news: his scholarship application was rejected.
Li Jiajun said that he already knew that the competition for international student scholarships was fierce and the chances were very small, but he still mightn’t hide his disappointment.
He hesitated to say that if he didn’t get promoted to university, “maybe work first…all waiting…blue-collar jobs…or construction work,” and hoped Have enough savings to go to college following five years. At that time, he should obtain pre-permanent status and qualify for local tuition fees.
If he goes back to study in a Hong Kong university, he will be able to enjoy government loans or subsidies. Has he thought regarding returning to Hong Kong?
To this, Li Jiajun answered without hesitation, “I didn’t plan, I didn’t think regarding it at all.”‘
“It’s like giving in. If you have to live, I’d rather live in a country with freedom and democracy than stay in a broken place.”
（forProtectRespondent’s identity，Li Jiajun and CoCo are both pseudonyms.）
