The UK will introduce a new visa in late January that will give 5.4 million Hong Kong residents – an impressive 70% of the territory’s population – the right to come and live in the UK and eventually become citizens.
He is making this “generous” offer to residents of his former colony because he believes China is undermining Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms.
Not everyone will come. Some of those who can leave expressed their determination to stay and continue the fight for democracy.
In the end, Britain estimates that around 300,000 will accept the visa offer in the next five years.
But some are so eager to leave that they are already in the UK, including Andy Li and his wife Teri Wong.
The couple moved to York City with daughter Gudelia and son Paul in October, shortly after Britain announced it was planning to launch the new visa scheme.
They made the move mainly for their children.
“We feel that the things we value in Hong Kong – our core values - are disappearing over time,” said Li.
“So we decided that we needed to offer a better opportunity for our children, not only for their education, but also for their future.”
For Li, Britain offers the kind of society – the rule of law, freedom of expression, democratic elections – that he longed for in Hong Kong.
Ms. 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. “This is not the life we want them to have,” she said.
Britain has allowed Hong Kong residents like Li and his family to move to the UK even before the new visa takes effect.
But as of January 31, they can begin the six-year citizenship application process.
In the meantime, they will have to support themselves, although they can receive medical care and educate their children.
Gudelia, 14, and Paul, 11, have already found a new school.
Mr. Li continues to work remotely for a Chinese electronics company based in Shenzhen, the Chinese city near the border with Hong Kong.
The family is excited about their new life, but others have arrived with less sense of starting something good than running away from something bad.
A person who declined to be identified came to Britain recently after participating in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019.
“I fear for the safety of friends and family who have decided to stay behind,” the 23-year-old told the BBC.
“And I am also afraid to become a target for the Hong Kong authorities because of my active participation in the protests.”
But even that person hopes for a better life: “Having the chance to live here is a dream come true.”
Since the UK returned its former colony 23 years ago, relatively few residents of the territory – less than 16,000 – have become British citizens.
That will certainly change, in part because the new visa scheme appears to offer few obstacles for the millions who can apply.
“I have had clients who applied in Canada, Australia and Taiwan, who have suspended their application and now want to go to the UK,” said Andrew Lo, a Hong Kong immigration consultant.
Another consultant in the territory, Colin Bloomfield, said the visa provisions look generous, although he said Britain could add more requirements that would make change more difficult.
The scheme is open to Hong Kong residents who claimed British National (Overseas) status, or BNO, prior to the transfer in 1997. A total of 2.9 million people have registered and therefore can apply for the new visa.
Their dependents – two and a half million more – can also travel with them.
Teri Wong is the only person in her family who registered to obtain BNO status, but she was allowed to bring her husband, who was born in China, and her two children to Britain with her.
‘Why should I leave?’
Although the British government admits that up to a million people can apply for a visa in the next five years, he believes that only a few hundred thousand will do so.
She believes that most people will choose to stay in Hong Kong.
Some residents will not want to leave elderly parents behind or learn a new language; the British climate is sure to deter others.
Many do not want to leave the territory to their fate.
“There are a number of people who do not want to leave, especially young people. They prefer to die in Hong Kong,” said Lo.
“I have many clients who fight with their children because their children do not want to emigrate. They say, ‘Why should I go? I must try my best to change this place ‘. ”
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There is also the difficulty of finding work in Britain, when the country tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and in Brexit.
And if enough comes, newcomers can face the resentment of Britons who oppose over-immigration.
“In the cold light of day, many will decide to stay in Hong Kong,” said Bloomfield, whose company is called British Connections.
Regardless of how many signed up, the British government said it had no choice but to offer the people of Hong Kong an escape route.
“This is not a question of numbers,” said a spokesman for the Home Office.
“The government is committed to giving British (foreign) citizens in Hong Kong the choice to come to the UK, fulfilling our historic commitment to them.”
Britain believes that when China imposed its national security law on Hong Kong earlier this year, it violated the terms of the transfer agreement signed by the two countries.
The space for expressing views that the Chinese government does not like has certainly diminished since the law came into force in July.
In the end, the number of Hong Kong residents who emigrate to Britain may depend on how much more Beijing decides to squeeze.