Hong Kong Rages at Wave of Pregnant Chinese

Children born in Hong Kong to mainland Chinese parents in 2011 accounted for more than one third of the city’s newborns. With every child born in Hong Kong receiving permanent residency rights and 12 years of free schooling, pressure on social services is mounting as is popular anger. The government may impose new quotas in public hospitals, but that’s a small fraction of the mainlander births in Hong Kong. Aside from permanent residency in Hong Kong, giving birth there allows mainlanders to skirt the one-child policy. Fast-rising wealth in mainland China is contributing to resentment among Hong Kong’s residents, accustomed to thinking of China as a “poor neighbor.” Hong Kong residents expect China to respect their relative independence, yet cultural and political changes are inevitable as each year 30 million mainlanders travel to the special administrative region with its population of 7 million. – YaleGlobal