BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – RUMOURS are rife that in an effort to protect their families and wealth, many Chinese businesspeople and politicians are seeking foreign citizenship.
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal headlined ‘More wealthy Chinese prepare exits’, some immigration lawyers have seen a new increase in the number of Chinese seeking foreign citizenship; a trend they suggest is tied to worries about political turmoil and economic slowdown in China.
“There’s definitely a surge in China for what I call ‘let-me-out-now’ product,” the American English-language international daily newspaper quoted Jean-Francois Harvey as saying.
Harvey is an immigration lawyer based in Hong Kong who deals with clients throughout Asia.
The media house noted that the recent interest builds on a trend of growth in applications from Chinese seeking to emigrate to places like the US, Canada and the UK in recent years, including to programmes that promise citizenship in exchange for investments.
It also noted that in 2011, 75 percent of investor-immigrant applicants in the US were from China.
Under the US investor immigration programme, applicants and their immediate families receive permanent US residency if an investment of at least $1M in the US leads to 10 full-time jobs within two years. The requirement is only $500 000 if the US jobs created are in a rural or high-unemployment area.
The media house stated that there is little information on the identities and actual numbers of Chinese seeking to leave, but participants in the industry that has grown up around such requests say they have seen increased activity in the weeks since the Communist Party’s ouster of senior party official Bo Xilai, which adds to a general feeling of uncertainty ahead of a once-a-decade leadership transition in the fall.
According to Richard Kurland, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based immigration lawyer, “The political situation heightens anxiety, and the wealthy people head for the visas”.
Kurland also said that he has seen a rise in inquiries in recent weeks.
In recent times, there has been an influx of Chinese entrepreneurs in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, and this had caused some degree of consternation among local business owners, many of whom alleged that preferences are given to the Chinese and that the government needs to ensure a level playing field is provided for the survival and growth of local entrepreneurs.
They also alleged that many Chinese businesses employ a very minute amount of locals, send their monies back to their homeland, do not contribute to community development or donate to sports or activities involving the nation’s youth.
Not only in St. Kitts and Nevis has there been an influx of Chinese entrepreneurs, but also within countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
This situation had led the St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC) to call on governments in the OECS to protect local businesses in the sub-region against Chinese entrepreneurs.
In a February 2012 press release, the Chamber said that even though St. Kitts and Nevis does not formally have diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, the OECS Economic Union’s concept of one economic space makes the threat of trans-border infiltration very real and easier for new arrivals into the sub-region.
“The St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce notes the growing concern of Manufacturers and Traders within the OECS, regarding the influx of Chinese businesses within the Economic Union, and joins them in their call for OECS Governments to protect their own against this great threat to local individuals and businesses,” the release said.
The CIC cited comments made on Antigua and Barbuda’s Observer Radio by President of St. Lucia Manufacturers Paula Caldron, who said that the influx of Chinese businesses is a direct threat to the region and argued that OECS governments should protect its people the same way China protects its own.
She added that the Chinese government makes it difficult for foreign businesses to penetrate and dominate, and pointed out that only a few global companies have succeeded China where government policies favour local giants.
“So,” she added, “we would not be the only ones protecting our people; China is also doing that. So why is it we can’t find the tools, despite the beauty of trade negotiations, to protect ourselves?”
From this backdrop, and with the opportunity given to foreigners to purchase citizenship through the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation, as well as the rumoured situation that currently exists in China, will the nationals and citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis see an increase of Chinese’s presence in the Federation?
