Hong Kong people to be moved inside Ireland, in a new city to be built

[Grace O'Malley]

There was discussions on this in December but it never really got very far up the chain.

The Hong Kong business man wanted this initially.

… the city would have an initial population of between 50,000 but would grow to 500,000 over 20 years, with at least 50 per cent made of people from Hong Kong, and 15-30 per cent from Ireland and Europe. It states the city would have a “free reforming economic system” within Ireland; an independent relationship with the EU; control of its own borders; a low and simple taxation system; no foreign exchange control; and an emphasis on “ease of setting up and conducting businesses”.

No sane country would agree to this and I'm not sure why they would choose Ireland for something like this? Anyway neither Ireland nor the EU would allow an automous state in their borders. Sure what could go wrong?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-31007121.html

[Daco Celtic]

Would result in lots of Hapas

[Grace O'Malley]

Ivan Ko, the Hong Kong businessman who initiated this has scaled down his proposal. (I don't know how he thought any country would accept that initial proposal?)

Ko’s original pitch – reported by the Times last weekend – envisaged an autonomous city for 500,000 Hongkongers over 500 sq km.

He drastically scaled that down after feedback from Ireland and other potential hosts, he told the Guardian. “We found out that replicating the Hong Kong model was not suitable, as if we were imposing something, and that Hong Kong people would be seen as segregated from the rest of the population. So we changed to another model.”

The new version will follow the host’s political system, said Ko. “We don’t have a separate border or our own country – just a new city to let Hong Kong people live together and at the same time integrate with local businesses so we can maximise the benefits to both sides.”

This won't go ahead. The Irish are going to giving their land away and control like that to an outside population that want to have a mini Hong Kong in Ireland. Look how it worked out when the Brits came in.

A department of foreign affairs spokesperson in Dublin confirmed there had been talks with Ko but appeared to pour cold water on the idea. “Following an initial approach in December 2019, the department had limited contact with the individuals involved to provide helpful and realistic guidance about Ireland. Since providing this guidance there has been no further action taken by the department in this matter,” they said.

Ireland is only a small island with a small population. A bigger country could absorb this better although no country is going to allow a large group of people to come in without controlling that themselves. Anyway I can't see this going anywhere in any European country. I wonder why they would want to go half way around the world? Although thinking about that they most probably want to get a far away from China as possible.

Quite interesting though.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...dea-to-ireland