In light of a recent statement by Boris Johnson, namely that the UK is going to welcome thousands of Hong Kong citizens as refugees, I've decided to run a thought experiment that goes even further. Rather than taking in "just" a few thousand, Boris Johnson goes beyond that and manages to convice the necessary political instruments to take in 90% of Hong Kong's citizens. My questions for this scenario are five:
1. How fast could the UK navy and airforce transport 6,750,000 people, assuming they take only the bare necessarities with them?
2. Would China try to stop the Hong Kong citizens from getting to the UK, and if yes, how?
3. What would the short-term consequences be if the UK pulls the mass-displacement off?
4. What would the long-term consequences be?
5. How would the UK develop with a sudden influx of such citizens?
For the sake of simplicity, let's run this scenario under two assumption, namely that only genuine Hong Kong citizens will leave for the UK, with China-loyalists and spies being left behind in Hong Kong as the remaining 10%; and that the UK is able to absorb the number of Hong Kong citizens without much social unrest.
1. How fast could the UK navy and airforce transport 6,750,000 people, assuming they take only the bare necessarities with them?
2. Would China try to stop the Hong Kong citizens from getting to the UK, and if yes, how?
3. What would the short-term consequences be if the UK pulls the mass-displacement off?
4. What would the long-term consequences be?
5. How would the UK develop with a sudden influx of such citizens?
For the sake of simplicity, let's run this scenario under two assumption, namely that only genuine Hong Kong citizens will leave for the UK, with China-loyalists and spies being left behind in Hong Kong as the remaining 10%; and that the UK is able to absorb the number of Hong Kong citizens without much social unrest.
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