WI: Hong Kong's population relocated to Northern Ireland

nixonshead

I heard on the radio this morning that British government papers from the 1980s have just been released showing the civil service was considering the idea of relocating the population of Hong Kong to a purpose-built city-state in Northern Ireland :eek:
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to listen to the detailed report, and the impression I got was that this was a very speculative paper that was never seriously considered, but...
What if this nuts proposal had actually been implemented? Is it in any way practical? What would the effect on the Troubles have been? How would China have reacted?
 
Avrorrange

Avrorrange

nixonshead said:
I heard on the radio this morning that British government papers from the 1980s have just been released showing the civil service was considering the idea of relocating the population of Hong Kong to a purpose-built city-state in Northern Ireland :eek:
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to listen to the detailed report, and the impression I got was that this was a very speculative paper that was never seriously considered, but...
What if this nuts proposal had actually been implemented? Is it in any way practical? What would the effect on the Troubles have been? How would China have reacted?
Click to expand...
Chinese reaction would be mixed I believe,on one hand they would have been rid of a potentially troublesome population(no need for one country,two system),on the other hand they won't have a channel where they can launder their money.
 

Tyr

That sounds unlikely considering the whole reason Hong Kong was being handed back was that it's economy with crash without the new territorires.
From this pov they would then dismantle the whole economy...?
You'd need to change a fair bit there.

You'll also have to sort out thatcher/the establishments racism. Iotl they denied full british citizenship to hong kongers
 
shiftygiant

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
The plan was a piss take of the Foreign Policy, but given how you asked, it is worth talking about.

Firstly, the population of Hong Kong in the late 80's was a little over Five Million, the population of Ulster in 1991 estimated to be a little over a Million and a Half. So, obviously, the residence of Ulster have just became a minority in their own country. If this proposal was implemented, a new location for these five million people would be needed in an area between Coleraine and Londonderry, and would have been horribly, horribly impracticable. The Troubles would have gotten worse. So much Worse. Many in Ulster would have taken up arms against this move, seeing the immigrating Hongkongers as foreign invaders, here to take their land. The IRA will see it as Britain tying to colonize the land and replace the natives, just as King James I did with the Scots a few centuries before. Violent reprisals against the new populous are sure. The move will be political suicide for Thatcher/Major. China will be thankful to get ride of a rebellious population, but they now have all this land that no one lives in and stands as a testimony to capitalism. Macao gets invaded just out of spite.

Some articles: Guardian, South China News
 
Avrorrange

Avrorrange

shiftygiant said:
The plan was a piss take of the Foreign Policy, but given how you asked, it is worth talking about.

Firstly, the population of Hong Kong in the late 80's was a little over Five Million, the population of Ulster in 1991 estimated to be a little over a Million and a Half. So, obviously, the residence of Ulster have just became a minority in their own country. If this proposal was implemented, a new location for these five million people would be needed in an area between Coleraine and Londonderry, and would have been horribly, horribly impracticable. The Troubles would have gotten worse. So much Worse. Many in Ulster would have taken up arms against this move, seeing the immigrating Hongkongers as foreign invaders, here to take their land. The IRA will see it as Britain tying to colonize the land and replace the natives, just as King James I did with the Scots a few centuries before. Violent reprisals against the new populous are sure. The move will be political suicide for Thatcher/Major. China will be thankful to get ride of a rebellious population, but they now have all this land that no one lives in and stands as a testimony to capitalism. Macao gets invaded just out of spite.

Some articles: Guardian, South China News
Click to expand...
Say hello to the Chinese republic of Northern Ireland!:p
 

The Oncoming Storm

10 years earlier there was a briefing paper on future strategy in relation to The Troubles which had a suggestion that NI should be split in half with the West given to RoI and the Nationalist population in the East forcibly resettled and the opposite happening for Western Protestants. In the wake of the 1981 riots the Thatcher Government considered a report that included the suggestion that Liverpool be abandoned and its population moved to Southern England. Civil Servants always give ministers a range of options to consider which often include "Absolute Worst Case Scenarios" which are there as outliers and are never seriously considered. Nothing more is heard of them until the full report is disclosed 30 years later and journalists eager for an attention grabbing story spot them and promote the whacky option to the centrepiece of the report as click bait. In all of these stories the "Doomsday Options" were never seriously considered and probably resulting in a laugh around the Cabinet Table.

Another possible downside was that Argentina would have demanded the same be done with the 2,000 Falklanders,
 

nixonshead

Looks like this proposal falls into the standard Catagory Three option:

Yes said:
Bernard Woolley: What if he demands options?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Well, it's obvious, Bernard. The Foreign Office will happily present him with three options, two of which are, on close inspection, exactly the same.
Sir Richard Wharton: Plus a third which is totally unacceptable.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Like bombing Warsaw or invading France.
Click to expand...

:D
 

Cryhavoc101

The Oncoming Storm said:
Another possible downside was that Argentina would have demanded the same be done with the 2,000 Falklanders,
Click to expand...

Not the same thing

Britian had a 99 year lease deal with China and kept its word

Argentina case is nothing more than a chest beating patriotic desire that the Falklands belong to them thats based partially on a lie and partially of a desire to present the Arentine people with a Victory to distract them from the poor rule under which they find themselves.

They can demand what they like
 

Socrates

Cryhavoc101 said:
Not the same thing

Britian had a 99 year lease deal with China and kept its word

Argentina case is nothing more than a chest beating patriotic desire that the Falklands belong to them thats based partially on a lie and partially of a desire to present the Arentine people with a Victory to distract them from the poor rule under which they find themselves.

They can demand what they like
Click to expand...

The lease was only on the new territories, not on Hong Kong island.
 

The Oncoming Storm

Cryhavoc101 said:
Not the same thing

Britian had a 99 year lease deal with China and kept its word

Argentina case is nothing more than a chest beating patriotic desire that the Falklands belong to them thats based partially on a lie and partially of a desire to present the Arentine people with a Victory to distract them from the poor rule under which they find themselves.

They can demand what they like
Click to expand...

True, but logic rarely features in Argentina's position over the Falklands ;)
 

Socrates

As others have said, this was a tongue in cheek proposal. More interesting would be extending rights to settle in the UK for all Hong Kongers. The Chinese seem like a hard-working and education-valuing lot, so would likely have helped out the UK a lot.
 

sparky42

Yeah as said, smebody was taking the piss with this. Though I'd love to have seen Doctor No's reaction to the Loyalists being swamped along with the Nationalists.

Sadly though I can only imagine the level of violence that this would unleash in NI, as Republican's and even moderate Nationalists would clearly see it as the UK gaming the population to always keep NI.

Though the amount of changes it would have had on the island would have been huge, sadly I think the British taxpayer wouldn't like it, make the 10 billion a year they give NI right now seem small...
 
Avrorrange

Avrorrange

sparky42 said:
Yeah as said, smebody was taking the piss with this. Though I'd love to have seen Doctor No's reaction to the Loyalists being swamped along with the Nationalists.

Sadly though I can only imagine the level of violence that this would unleash in NI, as Republican's and even moderate Nationalists would clearly see it as the UK gaming the population to always keep NI.

Though the amount of changes it would have had on the island would have been huge, sadly I think the British taxpayer wouldn't like it, make the 10 billion a year they give NI right now seem small...
Click to expand...
Assuming the population of HK gets fully removed to Northern Ireland,if the nationalists start a racewar,I think it's pretty certain that they will be the ones who gets wiped out in the end.
 

sparky42

darthfanta said:
Assuming the population of HK gets fully removed to Northern Ireland,if the nationalists start a racewar,I think it's pretty certain that they will be the ones who gets wiped out in the end.
Click to expand...

Why a race war, far more likely just a massive upswing in RUC/BA attacks along with UK bombings. Though why the HKer's would stay in NI when the rest of the UK is more attractive is beyond me.

Also Anglo-Irish relations would pretty much be in the crapper given the positions at the time.

On the plus side the Irish farmers will be making a killing to feed everyone, the island is back at Pre Famine level of population.
 
iainbhx

iainbhx

sparky42 said:
Yeah as said, smebody was taking the piss with this. Though I'd love to have seen Doctor No's reaction to the Loyalists being swamped along with the Nationalists.
Click to expand...

ARE THEY PROTESTANT HEATHENS OR CATHOLIC HEATHENS?

To be honest, accepting a lot more people from Hong Kong would have a) been the right thing to do and b) seems to have had a great economic benefit to other countries.

However, I suspect this is all Sir Humphrey's idea of a light amusement.
 

NOMISYRRUC

Socrates said:
As others have said, this was a tongue in cheek proposal. More interesting would be extending rights to settle in the UK for all Hong Kongers. The Chinese seem like a hard-working and education-valuing lot, so would likely have helped out the UK a lot.
Click to expand...

In the 1980s and 1990s many British people thought that having the entire population of HK settle in the UK would be great for the economy.

Also most British colonies became independent or joined other states because of self-determination. In this case HK had to go back to china regardless of what its people felt. So some people who were normally against mass immigration thought HK was a special case.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top