The Hong Kong migrants fleeing to start new lives in the UK

The UK will introduce a new visa at the end of January that will give 5.4 million Hong Kong residents – a staggering 70% of the territory’s population – the right to come and live in the UK, and eventually become citizens.

It is making this “generous” offer to residents of its former colony because it believes China is undermining Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms.

Not everyone will come. Some of those eligible to leave have expressed their determination to stay and continue the fight for democracy.

In the end, Britain estimates that about 300,000 will take up the visa offer over the next five years.

But some are so keen to leave that they are already in the UK, including Andy Li and his wife Teri Wong.

The couple moved to the city of York with their daughter Gudelia and son Paul in October, shortly after Britain announced it was planning to launch the new visa scheme.

They made the move primarily for their children.

“We feel that the things we treasure about Hong Kong – our core values – are fading over time,” said Mr Li.

“So we decided we needed to provide a better opportunity for our children, not only for their education, but also for their futures.”

For Mr Li, Britain provides the kind of society – the rule of law, freedom of speech, democratic elections – that he longed for in Hong Kong.

Mrs Wong said she wanted her children to be able to say what they wanted at school, not like in Hong Kong, where they had to be careful. “That’s not the life we want them to have,” she said