Exclusive: Hong Kong tells foreign governments to stop accepting special British passports

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The Hong Kong government has told some foreign consulates to stop accepting a British travel document that many of its young people use to apply for holiday work visas in Europe, North America and parts of Asia, they say diplomats.

In a move viewed by some envoys as a diplomatic affront, the government reported on a dozen foreign consulates in a letter that it no longer considered the British National Overseas (BNO) passport to be a valid travel document as of January 31.

The letter, read by Reuters, required that his Hong Kong passport be used instead.

A diplomatic dispute broke out over the BNO in January, after Britain introduced a new visa scheme that offers a path to full citizenship for Hong Kong citizens who wish to leave China-ruled territory.

Britain launched the scheme after Hong Kong passed a broad national security law last year, which critics say is crushing dissent in the former British colony.

Nearly 3 million Hong Kong residents own or are eligible for the BNO document, which was created before Britain returned the city to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong also began to mirror itself in mainland China by failing to recognize dual nationality, preventing foreign diplomats from visiting places with detained foreign passports for the first time.

“Most countries will ignore this,” said a Western diplomat who saw the letter.

“It’s the Hong Kong government just experimenting … they have no right to tell any state what foreign passports it can recognize.”

Another envoy described the action as “almost belligerent” and said that it is not the way the Hong Kong government, generally aware of the city’s position as an international financial center, has traditionally behaved.

The Hong Kong government has not yet responded to Reuters’ request for comment.

A Hong Kong government website lists 14 countries under the reciprocal Working Holiday scheme, including Japan, Canada, Germany, Britain and Australia.

Officials in Japan, South Korea, Italy and New Zealand confirmed to Reuters that they still recognized the BNO passport for visas. South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that it did not receive the letter, while Hungary said it did, and began negotiations to change the work holiday program.

Other nations, including the United States, Finland and Norway, also offer similar agreements or student exchanges for Hong Kong, and have accepted candidates’ BNOs.

It is not known whether the United States also received the letter, but a State Department spokesman told Reuters that the BNO remains valid for the purpose of issuing visas and travel to the United States.

Hong Kong’s moves against the BNO followed the UK government’s announcement that its new visa could attract more than 300,000 people and their dependents.

London said it was fulfilling a historic and moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong in the wake of national security law, which allows suspects in serious cases to be taken across the border and tried in Mainland Chinese courts.

Beijing and Hong Kong officials say legislation is needed to bring stability to the city after anti-government protests took place in 2019.

The UK scheme allows those with BNO status to live, study and work in Britain for five years and eventually apply for citizenship.

Beijing said it would make them second-class citizens, a line propagated by pro-Beijing media commentators in Hong Kong.

Britain returned its former colony to Chinese rule in 1997, with guarantees that its fundamental freedoms, broad autonomy and capitalist way of life would be protected.