Opinion, From 'freedom swimmers' fleeing China to fears of Hong Kong being swamped with migrants, a history of city's border controls
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For decades people flowed freely between China and Hong Kong, but the Chinese civil war changed that; today China selects migrants to the city, a policy some suspect is designed to overwhelm the locals and their culture
First published in 1903, South China Morning Post is Hong Kong’s premier English language newspaper and has the city’s most affluent and influential readership. With a reputation for authoritative, influential and independent reporting on Hong Kong and China. The newspaper is supported with its online publication and its Sunday edition, Sunday Morning Post.
For most of Hong Kong’s modern history, a virtually open frontier existed with the rest of China. From the mid-19th century onwards, people flowed into and out of Hong Kong with China’s political, social and economic upheavals, with almost non-existent immigration controls on either side.
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