By Kane Wu
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng reiterated on Saturday that Britain had no rights over the city according to the joint statement that set the model for how the city would be governed after its reunification with China in 1997.
Cheng made the comments in a blog post on the eve of changes to the UK visa application program that will allow Hong Kong residents to hold a British National Overseas (BNO) passport to live, study and work in Britain for five and eventually apply for citizenship.
BNO status was created by Great Britain in 1987 specifically for Hong Kong residents.
Cheng quoted former Chinese Foreign Ministry commissioner in Hong Kong, Xie Feng, as saying “the UK has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or ‘oversight’ right over Hong Kong after it has returned to China” under the Declaration Joint.
Beijing’s imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong in June last year prompted Britain to offer refuge to nearly 3 million Hong Kong residents qualified for the BNO passport as of January 31.
China and the Hong Kong government had already countered the visa change, saying they would no longer recognize the BNO passport as a valid travel document as of Sunday, January 31.
(Reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Jane Wardell)