when i say ethnic chinese, im refering to the overseas chinese communities who are usually from guangdong, or fujian. they can be found in south africa, the americas, australia, nz, and most importantly southeast asia. many of them in southeast asia dont even have chinese names anymore. overseas chinese communities in guyana usually dont speak chinese, but have chinese names. most of them have never set foot in china, but according to hk rules, they can have kids in hk, and they'd become chinese citizens. chinese have been in malaysia for 600yrs. most of those folks dont have any connections to china. these chinese malaysians are less connected to china than british americans are to britain. most white americans have only been in america for 200yrs, and half of them dont even know where they originated from, let alone go back to their country of origin to have kids and claim citizenship.
im not saying that people with distant links to china shouldnt get chinese citizenship, but if the authorities are trying to keep foreign influenced overseas chinese out by slapping them with article 5, then it seems that overseas chinese having kids in hk getting chinese citizenship and hk pr counteracts their goals.
these hk born kids can go back to malaysia, or indonesia after their birth, where all of their relatives are, and be as foreign as anyone else, yet hold chinese citizenship.
another thing that is weird is how hk born emigrants can give rtl to their kids born overseas, whereas mainland born hongers cannot. as far as i can see, a cbc born to hk born emigrants will be as westernized as cbc's with mainland born parents. if anything, the cbc with hk born parents are likely to be more westernized than the cbc with mainland born parents.