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{{short description|Hong Kong businessman and political activist}}
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{{distinguish|text=French technology entrepreneur [[Philippe Kahn]]}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
⚫
{{distinguish|text=French technology entrepreneur [[Philippe Kahn]]}}
{{Infobox Chinese
{{Infobox Chinese
| lang1 = ur
| lang1 = ur
| lang1_content = عبدالغفار خان
| lang1_content = {{Nastaliq|عبدالغفار خان}}
| c = 簡浩名
| t = 簡浩名
| y = Gáan Houhmìhng
| y = Gáan Houhmìhng
| hide = no
}}
}}


'''Abdull Ghafar Khan''' (born 21 July 1962), better known as '''Phillip Khan''', is a Hong Kong businessman and political activist. A [[Pakistanis in Hong Kong|Pakistani national born and raised in Hong Kong]], Khan's ambitions to stand for election to [[Legislative Council (Hong Kong)|the city's Legislative Council]] reportedly have been blocked by the refusal of the [[Hong Kong Immigration Department]] to consider his application for [[Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China#Hong Kong|naturalisation as a Chinese national]].<ref name="MingPao20120814">{{cite news|url=http://news.sina.com.hk/news/3/1/1/2744005/1.html|title=香港仔巴漢申特區護照被拒 (Aberdeen Pakistani man's application for SAR passport refused)|work=[[Ming Pao]]|date=14 August 2012|accessdate=14 August 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.is/20130107210240/http://news.sina.com.hk/news/3/1/1/2744005/1.html|archivedate=7 January 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
'''Abdull Ghafar Khan''', better known as '''Phillip Khan''', is a Hong Kong businessman and political activist. A [[Pakistanis in Hong Kong|Pakistani national born and raised in Hong Kong]], Khan's ambitions to stand for election to [[Legislative Council (Hong Kong)|the city's Legislative Council]] reportedly have been blocked by the refusal of the [[Hong Kong Immigration Department]] to consider his application for [[Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China#Hong Kong|naturalisation as a Chinese national]].<ref name="MingPao20120814">{{cite news|url=http://news.sina.com.hk/news/3/1/1/2744005/1.html|title=香港仔巴漢申特區護照被拒 |trans-title=Aberdeen Pakistani man's application for SAR passport refused |work=[[Ming Pao]]|date=14 August 2012|access-date=14 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130107210240/http://news.sina.com.hk/news/3/1/1/2744005/1.html|archive-date=7 January 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>


==Early life==
==Early life==
Khan concurrently holds [[Pakistani nationality law|Pakistani nationality]] and [[British National (Overseas)]] status. His father came to Hong Kong in 1915, when the city was still [[British Hong Kong|ruled by the British Empire]].<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> His uncle served in the [[Hong Kong Police Force]], and was killed in a bombing in 1944 during [[World War II]]. After the war, his father settled in [[Diamond Hill]], where he ran a dairy farm. Khan himself was born in Hong Kong in 1962 and studied at the former Mansfield College in [[Knutsford Terrace]], [[Tsim Sha Tsui]]; he was the only member of his class not of Chinese ethnicity, and thus became fluent in [[Cantonese]]. He graduated in 1976.<ref name="RTHK20121015">{{cite news|url=http://programme.rthk.org.hk/rthk/tv/programme.php?name=tv/hkcc&p=858&d=2012-10-15&e=193706&m=episode|author=李君萍 (Lee Kwan-ping)|title=身份不明 (Unclear Identities)|work=[[Radio Television Hong Kong]]|date=15 October 2012|accessdate=20 April 2013|post=}}</ref> During the 1980s, when the [[Waves of mass migrations from Hong Kong#1980s and 1990s|wave of emigration from Hong Kong]] was reaching its peak, Khan made the decision to remain in Hong Kong, stating that he saw it as his home.<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> He runs a trading company, due to which he travels frequently to [[Shenzhen]] for business and speaks [[Mandarin Chinese]] as well.<ref name="RTHK20121015"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1013818/businessman-philip-khan-born-hong-kong-cannot-get-passport|first=Simpson|last=Cheung|title=Businessman Phillip Khan born in Hong Kong cannot get passport|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=14 August 2012|accessdate=26 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asianewsnet.net/news-38732.html|title=Minorities facing challenges in HK|date=12 November 2012|accessdate=30 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610093022/http://www.asianewsnet.net/news-38732.html|archive-date=2015-06-10|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
Khan concurrently holds [[Pakistani nationality law|Pakistani nationality]] and [[British National (Overseas)]] status. His father came to Hong Kong in 1915, when the city was still [[British Hong Kong|ruled by the British Empire]].<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> His uncle served in the [[Hong Kong Police Force]], and was killed in a bombing in 1944 during [[World War II]]. After the war, his father settled in [[Diamond Hill]], where he ran a dairy farm. Khan studied at the former {{ill|Mansfield College (Hong Kong)|zh|格致書院 (香港)|lt=Mansfield College}} in [[Knutsford Terrace]], [[Tsim Sha Tsui]]; he was the only member of his class not of Chinese ethnicity, and thus became fluent in [[Cantonese]]. He graduated in 1976.<ref name="RTHK20121015">{{cite news|url=https://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item.php?pid=244&eid=25039&year=2012&lang=en-US|author-mask=李君萍 [Lee Kwan-ping] |last=Lee|first=Kwan-ping |title=身份不明 |trans-title=Unclear Identities |work=[[Radio Television Hong Kong]]|date=15 October 2012|access-date=20 April 2013}}</ref> During the 1980s, when the [[Waves of mass migrations from Hong Kong#1980s and 1990s|wave of emigration from Hong Kong]] was reaching its peak, Khan made the decision to remain in Hong Kong, stating that he saw it as his home.<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> He runs a trading company, due to which he travels frequently to [[Shenzhen]] for business and speaks [[Mandarin Chinese]] as well.<ref name="RTHK20121015"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1013818/businessman-philip-khan-born-hong-kong-cannot-get-passport|first=Simpson|last=Cheung|title=Businessman Phillip Khan born in Hong Kong cannot get passport|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=14 August 2012|access-date=26 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.asianewsnet.net/news-38732.html|title=Minorities facing challenges in HK|publisher=Asia News Network|date=12 November 2012|access-date=30 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610093022/http://www.asianewsnet.net/news-38732.html|archive-date=2015-06-10|url-status=usurped}}</ref>


==2008 Minibond protests==
==2008 Minibond protests==
Khan suffered financial losses in the September 2008 [[bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers]] due to his investments in so-called "[[Minibond]]s" – structured financial products similar to [[equity-linked note]]s which were marketed to many members of the Hong Kong public with claims of being a safe and low-risk product. In the aftermath, he became involved in efforts to gain compensation for affected noteholders. In November 2008, Khan organised a protest march from [[Sogo]] Department Store in [[Causeway Bay]] to the [[Central Government Offices]] in [[Central, Hong Kong|Central]]; attendees shouted slogans calling for then-Chief Executive of Hong Kong [[Donald Tsang]] to step down and criticising the opacity of the banks' operations.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://life.mingpao.com/cfm/dailynews3b.cfm?File=20091102/nalgd/gda1.txt|title=網民圍禮賓府被阻截 不滿政府漠視基層 喊特首下台 (Internet users blocked from surrounding Government House; dissatisfied with government's neglect of grassroots, call for Chief Executive to step down)|work=[[Ming Pao]]|date=2 November 2009|accessdate=14 August 2012}}</ref> The following month, when former US president [[Bill Clinton]] visited Hong Kong for the first annual meeting of the [[Clinton Foundation]], Khan organised protests outside of the [[Grand Hyatt Hong Kong]] where Clinton was staying, in an attempt to draw attention to the issue. Roughly 90 people attended the protests.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/2/1/1/961103/1.html|title=90苦主向克林頓請願不果 (Ninety debtholders fruitlessly petition Clinton)|work=Oriental Daily News|date=4 December 2008|accessdate=14 August 2012}}</ref>
Khan suffered financial losses in the September 2008 [[bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers]] due to his investments in so-called "[[Minibond]]s" – structured financial products similar to [[equity-linked note]]s which were marketed to many members of the Hong Kong public with claims of being a safe and low-risk product. In the aftermath, he became involved in efforts to gain compensation for affected noteholders. In November 2008, Khan organised a protest march from [[Sogo]] Department Store in [[Causeway Bay]] to the [[Central Government Offices]] in [[Central, Hong Kong|Central]]; attendees shouted slogans calling for then-Chief Executive of Hong Kong [[Donald Tsang]] to step down and criticising the opacity of the banks' operations.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://life.mingpao.com/cfm/dailynews3b.cfm?File=20091102/nalgd/gda1.txt|title=網民圍禮賓府被阻截 不滿政府漠視基層 喊特首下台 |trans-title=Internet users blocked from surrounding Government House; dissatisfied with government's neglect of grassroots, call for Chief Executive to step down |work=[[Ming Pao]]|date=2 November 2009|access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> The following month, when former US president [[Bill Clinton]] visited Hong Kong for the first annual meeting of the [[Clinton Foundation]], Khan organised protests outside of the [[Grand Hyatt Hong Kong]] where Clinton was staying, in an attempt to draw attention to the issue. Roughly 90 people attended the protests.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/2/1/1/961103/1.html|title=90苦主向克林頓請願不果 |trans-title=Ninety debtholders fruitlessly petition Clinton |work=Oriental Daily News|date=4 December 2008|access-date=14 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208120206/http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/2/1/1/961103/1.html|archive-date=8 December 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Khan continued leading protest activities throughout 2009 and 2010. In January 2009, Khan and four fellow protestors collected signatures from over two thousand affected noteholders and set off for neighbouring [[Macau]] to submit a petition to then-[[Vice-President of the People's Republic of China]] [[Xi Jinping]], who was visiting the city.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/news/expressnews/20090110/news_20090110_55_551406.htm|title=5名雷曼苦主準備乘船往澳門向習近平表達不滿 (Five Lehman debtholders prepare to board a boat to Macau to express their dissatisfaction to Xi Jinping)|work=[[Radio Television Hong Kong]]|date=10 January 2009|accessdate=14 August 2012}}</ref> In 2010, after [[Standard Chartered]] admitted that they had made errors in estimating the risk associated with Minibonds, Khan led a protest outside of the [[Old Supreme Court Building, Hong Kong|Legislative Council Building]], during which he stood in the middle of the street in an attempt to block a Standard Chartered company bus from departing the scene.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.hk.msn.com/local/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3895023|title=渣打高層認錯估雷曼倒閉風險 (Standard Chartered executives admit error in estimating Lehman's risk of collapse)|work=Oriental Daily News|date=8 May 2010|accessdate=15 August 2012}}</ref>
Khan continued leading protest activities throughout 2009 and 2010. In January 2009, Khan and four fellow protestors collected signatures from over two thousand affected noteholders and set off for neighbouring [[Macau]] to submit a petition to then-[[Vice-President of the People's Republic of China]] [[Xi Jinping]], who was visiting the city.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/news/expressnews/20090110/news_20090110_55_551406.htm|title=5名雷曼苦主準備乘船往澳門向習近平表達不滿 |trans-title=Five Lehman debtholders prepare to board a boat to Macau to express their dissatisfaction to Xi Jinping |work=[[Radio Television Hong Kong]]|date=10 January 2009|access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> In 2010, after [[Standard Chartered]] admitted that they had made errors in estimating the risk associated with Minibonds, Khan led a protest outside of the [[Old Supreme Court Building, Hong Kong|Legislative Council Building]], during which he stood in the middle of the street in an attempt to block a Standard Chartered company bus from departing the scene.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.hk.msn.com/local/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3895023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103215703/http://news.hk.msn.com/local/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3895023|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 January 2013|title=渣打高層認錯估雷曼倒閉風險 |trans-title=Standard Chartered executives admit error in estimating Lehman's risk of collapse |work=Oriental Daily News|date=8 May 2010|access-date=15 August 2012}}</ref>


==Naturalisation attempts==
==Naturalisation attempts==
Khan has twice attempted to submit applications to the [[Hong Kong Immigration Department]] for naturalisation as a Chinese national; however, each time, the immigration officer on duty refused to accept his papers, stating that he did not have a close relative who was a Chinese national.<ref name="AppleDaily20121213">{{cite news|url=http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20121213/18099692|title=植根港百年 巴漢被拒入籍 入境處原因：沒有近親是中國人 (Rooted in Hong Kong for a hundred years, Pakistani man's naturalisation refused; Immigration Department reason: does not have close Chinese relative)|work=[[Apple Daily]]|date=13 December 2012|accessdate=20 April 2013}}</ref> According to an Immigration Department spokesperson, applications will be taken from all persons submitting them, but under the {{HKOrd|name=Chinese Nationality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance|540|5}}, the Department is not required to inform the applicant of the reason for rejection.<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> His inability to naturalise has also meant he cannot obtain a [[Home Return Permit]] for travel to mainland China; instead, he has to use his passport, waiting in line at immigration control at [[Luohu Port]] for more than half an hour each time and quickly running out of pages for [[passport stamp]]s, requiring him to pay additional fees to add pages to his passport or renew it.<ref name="RTHK20121015"/>
Khan has twice attempted to submit applications to the [[Hong Kong Immigration Department]] for naturalisation as a Chinese national; however, each time, the immigration officer on duty refused to accept his papers, stating that he did not have a close relative who was a Chinese national.<ref name="AppleDaily20121213">{{cite news|url=http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20121213/18099692|title=植根港百年 巴漢被拒入籍 入境處原因：沒有近親是中國人 |trans-title=Rooted in Hong Kong for a hundred years, Pakistani man's naturalisation refused; Immigration Department reason: does not have close Chinese relative |work=[[Apple Daily]]|date=13 December 2012|access-date=20 April 2013}}</ref> According to an Immigration Department spokesperson, applications will be taken from all persons submitting them, but under the {{HKOrd|name=Chinese Nationality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance|540|5}}, the Department is not required to inform the applicant of the reason for rejection.<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> His inability to naturalise has also meant he cannot obtain a [[Home Return Permit]] for travel to mainland China; instead, he has to use his passport, waiting in line at immigration control at [[Luohu Port]] for more than half an hour each time and quickly running out of pages for [[passport stamp]]s, requiring him to pay additional fees to add pages to his passport or renew it.<ref name="RTHK20121015"/>


News of Khan's troubles prompted [[Equal Opportunities Commission (Hong Kong)|Equal Opportunities Commission]] Chairman [[Lam Woon-kwong]] to write a letter of concern to the Immigration Department.<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> In December 2012, Khan organised public protests over the issue, marching and holding signs at the [[Central Government Complex, Tamar|Central Government Complex in Tamar]] with roughly twenty other South Asians whose applications for naturalisation had similarly been rejected.<ref name="AppleDaily20121213"/>
News of Khan's troubles prompted [[Equal Opportunities Commission (Hong Kong)|Equal Opportunities Commission]] Chairman [[Lam Woon-kwong]] to write a letter of concern to the Immigration Department.<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> In December 2012, Khan organised public protests over the issue, marching and holding signs at the [[Central Government Complex, Tamar|Central Government Complex in Tamar]] with roughly twenty other South Asians whose applications for naturalisation had similarly been rejected.<ref name="AppleDaily20121213"/>


==Other activities==
==Other activities==
[[File:Hong Kong IMG 2858 (48930171656).jpg|thumb|right|Exterior of Kowloon Masjid on 20 October 2019, following the water cannon spraying]]
⚫
In the early 2000s, Khan participated in a number of Hong Kong political activities, including the [[Hong Kong 1 July marches]] against [[Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23|Basic Law Article 23]] security legislation, as well as candlelight vigils in [[Victoria Park, Hong Kong|Victoria Park]] in memory of the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]].<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> He has also spoken out against the Hong Kong [[Education Bureau]]'s refusal to develop a local Chinese-as-a-second-language curriculum for students from non-Chinese-speaking households.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.now.com/home/local/player?newsId=62775|title=南亞裔港人：不懂中文等如「殘廢」 (Hong Kong South Asian man: not understanding Chinese like being "handicapped")|work=Now News|date=19 March 2013|accessdate=19 March 2013}}</ref>

⚫
In the early 2000s, Khan participated in a number of Hong Kong political activities, including the [[Hong Kong 1 July marches]] against [[Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23|Basic Law Article 23]] security legislation, as well as candlelight vigils in [[Victoria Park, Hong Kong|Victoria Park]] in memory of the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]].<ref name="MingPao20120814"/> He has also spoken out against the Hong Kong [[Education Bureau]]'s refusal to develop a local Chinese-as-a-second-language curriculum for students from non-Chinese-speaking households.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.now.com/home/local/player?newsId=62775|title=南亞裔港人：不懂中文等如「殘廢」 |trans-title=Hong Kong South Asian man: not understanding Chinese like being "handicapped" |work=Now News|date=19 March 2013|access-date=19 March 2013}}</ref>

[[Timeline of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests (October 2019)#20 October Kowloon protest|In October 2019]], during the [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests|anti-extradition bill protests]], after an attack on [[Civil Human Rights Front]] convenor [[Jimmy Sham]] by five unidentified men of South Asian ethnicity, online messages called for retaliatory attacks on the [[Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre]], and Khan and several other Muslims were standing outside the masjid to protect it when {{ill|2019 Kowloon Masjid water cannon incident|zh|香港警察向清真寺發射藍色水炮事件|lt=police sprayed blue-dyed water}} on them and the masjid.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1487303-20191020.htm |title=Spraying of water at Kowloon Mosque an 'accident' |publisher=Radio Television Hong Kong |date=20 October 2019 |access-date=19 December 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119173157/https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1487303-20191020.htm |archive-date=19 January 2021}}</ref> Khan rejected police descriptions of the spraying as accidental and stated it was an "insult to Islam".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tens-of-thousands-protest-in-hong-kong-despite-police-ban-and-attack-on-key-organizer/2019/10/20/1fc07746-f2b6-11e9-bb7e-d2026ee0c199_story.html |first1=Shibani |last1=Mahtani |first2=Ryan Ho |last2=Kilpatrick |first3=Timothy |last3=McLaughlin |title=Police blast mosque with water cannon as hundreds of thousands protest in Hong Kong |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=21 October 2019 |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://theinitium.com/article/20191020-whatsnew-anti-mask-law-protest/ |title=1020 示威全記錄：35萬人和平遊行 後演變警民衝突 示威者破壞大量中資機構和港鐵站 |work=The Initium |date=20 October 2019 |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref> Khan, along with then-Legislative Council member [[Jeremy Tam]] and Indian Association of Hong Kong president {{ill|Mohan Chugani|zh|毛漢}}, subsequently filed a report with the [[Complaints Against Police Office]] regarding the spraying.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3034060/hong-kong-no-2-official-rejects-suggestion-government-lacks |first1=Tony |last1=Cheung |first2=Kimmy |last2=Chung |title=Hong Kong No 2 official rejects suggestion government lacks empathy for residents injured during protests, calls Carrie Lam's visit to Kowloon Mosque 'show of respect' |newspaper=South China Morning Post |date=22 October 2019 |access-date=19 December 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221220032136/https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3034060/hong-kong-no-2-official-rejects-suggestion-government-lacks |archive-date=20 December 2022}}</ref>

Khan unsuccessfully ran for a seat on [[Yau Tsim Mong District Council]], in [[Tsim Sha Tsui West (constituency)|Tsim Sha Tsui West constituency]], during the [[2019 Hong Kong local elections|November 2019 local elections]].<ref name="2019results">{{cite web |title=Election Results |url=https://www.elections.gov.hk/dc2019/eng/results_hk.html |website=District Council Election 2019 |publisher=Registration and Electoral Office |access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
*{{facebook|phillip.khan.5}}
*{{facebook|phillip.khan.5}}
*[http://www.lbv.org.hk/content/pages/posts/2010E5B9B47E69C888E697A5E99BB7E69BBCE88BA6E4B8BBE8A898E88085E68B9BE5BE85E69C83--EFA798E694BFEFA5A7E585AC-E8ADA6E8ADA6E79BB8E8A19B-E6B395E6B2BBE5B7B2E6ADBB9108.php Photos of Khan] holding a joint press conference with [[Leung Kwok-hung]] and others in 2010
*[https://archive.today/20121218114135/http://www.lbv.org.hk/content/pages/posts/2010E5B9B47E69C888E697A5E99BB7E69BBCE88BA6E4B8BBE8A898E88085E68B9BE5BE85E69C83--EFA798E694BFEFA5A7E585AC-E8ADA6E8ADA6E79BB8E8A19B-E6B395E6B2BBE5B7B2E6ADBB9108.php Photos of Khan] holding a joint press conference with [[Leung Kwok-hung]] and others in 2010
*[http://www.eoc.org.hk/eoc/upload/scmp/22-10-12.pdf Equal Opportunities Commission Chairman Eden Lam's open letter] about Khan's case
*[http://www.eoc.org.hk/eoc/upload/scmp/22-10-12.pdf Equal Opportunities Commission Chairman Eden Lam's open letter] about Khan's case


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[[Category:Hong Kong activists]]
[[Category:Hong Kong activists]]
[[Category:Hong Kong businesspeople]]
[[Category:Hong Kong businesspeople]]
[[Category:Hong Kong people of Pakistani descent]]
[[Category:Pakistani emigrants to Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2022]]
[[Category:Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2021]]

Latest revision as of 01:39, 8 September 2024

Not to be confused with French technology entrepreneur Philippe Kahn.

Phillip Khan
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese簡浩名
Yale RomanizationGáan Houhmìhng
Urdu name
Urduعبدالغفار خان

Abdull Ghafar Khan, better known as Phillip Khan, is a Hong Kong businessman and political activist. A Pakistani national born and raised in Hong Kong, Khan's ambitions to stand for election to the city's Legislative Council reportedly have been blocked by the refusal of the Hong Kong Immigration Department to consider his application for naturalisation as a Chinese national.[1]

Early life

[edit]

Khan concurrently holds Pakistani nationality and British National (Overseas) status. His father came to Hong Kong in 1915, when the city was still ruled by the British Empire.[1] His uncle served in the Hong Kong Police Force, and was killed in a bombing in 1944 during World War II. After the war, his father settled in Diamond Hill, where he ran a dairy farm. Khan studied at the former Mansfield College [zh] in Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui; he was the only member of his class not of Chinese ethnicity, and thus became fluent in Cantonese. He graduated in 1976.[2] During the 1980s, when the wave of emigration from Hong Kong was reaching its peak, Khan made the decision to remain in Hong Kong, stating that he saw it as his home.[1] He runs a trading company, due to which he travels frequently to Shenzhen for business and speaks Mandarin Chinese as well.[2][3][4]

2008 Minibond protests

[edit]

Khan suffered financial losses in the September 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers due to his investments in so-called "Minibonds" – structured financial products similar to equity-linked notes which were marketed to many members of the Hong Kong public with claims of being a safe and low-risk product. In the aftermath, he became involved in efforts to gain compensation for affected noteholders. In November 2008, Khan organised a protest march from Sogo Department Store in Causeway Bay to the Central Government Offices in Central; attendees shouted slogans calling for then-Chief Executive of Hong Kong Donald Tsang to step down and criticising the opacity of the banks' operations.[5] The following month, when former US president Bill Clinton visited Hong Kong for the first annual meeting of the Clinton Foundation, Khan organised protests outside of the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong where Clinton was staying, in an attempt to draw attention to the issue. Roughly 90 people attended the protests.[6]

Khan continued leading protest activities throughout 2009 and 2010. In January 2009, Khan and four fellow protestors collected signatures from over two thousand affected noteholders and set off for neighbouring Macau to submit a petition to then-Vice-President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, who was visiting the city.[7] In 2010, after Standard Chartered admitted that they had made errors in estimating the risk associated with Minibonds, Khan led a protest outside of the Legislative Council Building, during which he stood in the middle of the street in an attempt to block a Standard Chartered company bus from departing the scene.[8]

Naturalisation attempts

[edit]

Khan has twice attempted to submit applications to the Hong Kong Immigration Department for naturalisation as a Chinese national; however, each time, the immigration officer on duty refused to accept his papers, stating that he did not have a close relative who was a Chinese national.[9] According to an Immigration Department spokesperson, applications will be taken from all persons submitting them, but under the Chinese Nationality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 540) § 5, the Department is not required to inform the applicant of the reason for rejection.[1] His inability to naturalise has also meant he cannot obtain a Home Return Permit for travel to mainland China; instead, he has to use his passport, waiting in line at immigration control at Luohu Port for more than half an hour each time and quickly running out of pages for passport stamps, requiring him to pay additional fees to add pages to his passport or renew it.[2]

News of Khan's troubles prompted Equal Opportunities Commission Chairman Lam Woon-kwong to write a letter of concern to the Immigration Department.[1] In December 2012, Khan organised public protests over the issue, marching and holding signs at the Central Government Complex in Tamar with roughly twenty other South Asians whose applications for naturalisation had similarly been rejected.[9]

Other activities

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Exterior of Kowloon Masjid on 20 October 2019, following the water cannon spraying

In the early 2000s, Khan participated in a number of Hong Kong political activities, including the Hong Kong 1 July marches against Basic Law Article 23 security legislation, as well as candlelight vigils in Victoria Park in memory of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[1] He has also spoken out against the Hong Kong Education Bureau's refusal to develop a local Chinese-as-a-second-language curriculum for students from non-Chinese-speaking households.[10]

In October 2019, during the anti-extradition bill protests, after an attack on Civil Human Rights Front convenor Jimmy Sham by five unidentified men of South Asian ethnicity, online messages called for retaliatory attacks on the Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre, and Khan and several other Muslims were standing outside the masjid to protect it when police sprayed blue-dyed water [zh] on them and the masjid.[11] Khan rejected police descriptions of the spraying as accidental and stated it was an "insult to Islam".[12][13] Khan, along with then-Legislative Council member Jeremy Tam and Indian Association of Hong Kong president Mohan Chugani [zh], subsequently filed a report with the Complaints Against Police Office regarding the spraying.[14]

Khan unsuccessfully ran for a seat on Yau Tsim Mong District Council, in Tsim Sha Tsui West constituency, during the November 2019 local elections.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "香港仔巴漢申特區護照被拒" [Aberdeen Pakistani man's application for SAR passport refused]. Ming Pao. 14 August 2012. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  2. ^ a b c 李君萍 [Lee Kwan-ping] (15 October 2012). "身份不明" [Unclear Identities]. Radio Television Hong Kong. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  3. ^ Cheung, Simpson (14 August 2012). "Businessman Phillip Khan born in Hong Kong cannot get passport". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Minorities facing challenges in HK". Asia News Network. 12 November 2012. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "網民圍禮賓府被阻截 不滿政府漠視基層 喊特首下台" [Internet users blocked from surrounding Government House; dissatisfied with government's neglect of grassroots, call for Chief Executive to step down]. Ming Pao. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  6. ^ "90苦主向克林頓請願不果" [Ninety debtholders fruitlessly petition Clinton]. Oriental Daily News. 4 December 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  7. ^ "5名雷曼苦主準備乘船往澳門向習近平表達不滿" [Five Lehman debtholders prepare to board a boat to Macau to express their dissatisfaction to Xi Jinping]. Radio Television Hong Kong. 10 January 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  8. ^ "渣打高層認錯估雷曼倒閉風險" [Standard Chartered executives admit error in estimating Lehman's risk of collapse]. Oriental Daily News. 8 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  9. ^ a b "植根港百年 巴漢被拒入籍 入境處原因：沒有近親是中國人" [Rooted in Hong Kong for a hundred years, Pakistani man's naturalisation refused; Immigration Department reason: does not have close Chinese relative]. Apple Daily. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  10. ^ "南亞裔港人：不懂中文等如「殘廢」" [Hong Kong South Asian man: not understanding Chinese like being "handicapped"]. Now News. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  11. ^ "Spraying of water at Kowloon Mosque an 'accident'". Radio Television Hong Kong. 20 October 2019. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  12. ^ Mahtani, Shibani; Kilpatrick, Ryan Ho; McLaughlin, Timothy (21 October 2019). "Police blast mosque with water cannon as hundreds of thousands protest in Hong Kong". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  13. ^ "1020 示威全記錄：35萬人和平遊行 後演變警民衝突 示威者破壞大量中資機構和港鐵站". The Initium. 20 October 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  14. ^ Cheung, Tony; Chung, Kimmy (22 October 2019). "Hong Kong No 2 official rejects suggestion government lacks empathy for residents injured during protests, calls Carrie Lam's visit to Kowloon Mosque 'show of respect'". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Election Results". District Council Election 2019. Registration and Electoral Office. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
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