UK prepares for influx of Hongkongers fleeing fresh China crackdown

Australia also expecting flood of arrivals from the city state after Beijing tightens election rules

Protestors against China’s national security law in 2019
Hong Kong protest against China’s national security law in 2019
(Image credit: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Tens of thousands of Hongkongers are expected to flee in search of new lives in the UK and Australia after China yesterday approved a drastic overhaul of election rules in the city state.

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.