BEIJING (AP) – China said on Friday that it would no longer recognize the British passport abroad as a valid travel document or form of identification amid a bitter dispute with London over a plan that would allow millions of Hong Kong residents. a route to residence and eventual citizenship.
The announcement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday raises new uncertainty about the plan just hours after the United Kingdom said it would begin accepting applications for so-called BNO visas starting at night of Sunday.
Under the plan, up to 5.4 million Hong Kong residents could qualify to live and work in the UK for five years and then apply for citizenship. Demand soared after Beijing last year imposed a new comprehensive national security law on the former British colony after months of pro-democracy protests.
“The attempt by the British side to turn large numbers of Hong Kong people into second-class British citizens has completely changed the nature of both sides’ original understanding of the BNO,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.
“This movement seriously violates China’s sovereignty, grossly interferes with Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs and seriously violates international law and the basic rules of international relations,” he said. “As of January 31, China will no longer recognize the so-called BNO passport as a travel document and proof of identity and reserves the right to take further measures.”
Many Hong Kong residents carry multiple passports and it is unclear what the Chinese government could do to prevent people from entering the UK through the BNO visa plan. As an added protection of personal privacy, a mobile application will allow applicants to download their biometric information without being seen by visiting the British visa office.
The BNO passport was originally a disappointment to Hong Kong residents when it was first offered before Hong Kong moved to Chinese rule in 1997. At the time, it offered only the right to visit for six months, with no right to work or become a full citizen. Applicants must have been born before the transfer date.
However, pressure increased to expand these privileges as China increasingly repressed civil and political life in Hong Kong, which critics say violated China’s commitment to maintain a separate way of life in the city for 50 years. years after the transfer. China first declared the Sino-British Declaration of 1984, establishing transfer agreements null and void, despite its recognition by the United Nations, then imposed national security law on the territory after the city’s legislature was unable to pass it. her on her own.
“I am immensely proud to have brought this new route for Hong Kong’s BNOs to live, work and make their homes in our country,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a statement.
“In doing so, we honor our deep ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong and defend freedom and autonomy – values that both the UK and Hong Kong cherish.”