BEIJING – Hong Kong residents can apply for a new visa starting on Sunday, giving them a chance to become British citizens after the Chinese repression in the former colony, but Beijing said it will no longer recognize the special British passport already in use .
UK government forecasts say the new visa could attract more than 300,000 people and their dependents to Britain. Beijing said it would make them second-class citizens.
Britain and China have been arguing for months over what London and Washington say is an attempt to silence dissent in Hong Kong after massive pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020.
Britain claims to be fulfilling a moral and historic commitment to the people of Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a new security law on the semi-autonomous city that, according to the United Kingdom, violates the terms of the agreements under which the colony was returned to China in 1997.
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“I am immensely proud to have brought this new route to Hong Kong BN (O) s to live, work and make his home in our country,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson, referring to a special British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders.
But China and the Hong Kong government responded by saying that they would no longer recognize the BNO passport as a valid travel document as of Sunday, January 31.
“Britain is trying to turn a large number of Hong Kong people into second-class British citizens. This has completely changed the original nature of the BNO,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian in a statement. a press conference.
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.
The scheme, first announced last year, opens on Sunday and allows people with British nationality status (Overseas) to live, study and work in Britain for five years and eventually apply for citizenship.
BN (O) is a special status created by British law in 1987 that refers specifically to Hong Kong.
Britain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was disappointed, but not surprised by Beijing’s decision not to recognize the BNO’s passport. China’s move is largely symbolic, as Hong Kong residents would not normally use their BNO passports to travel to the continent. A Hong Kong BNO passport holder can still use his Hong Kong passport or ID card.
The £ 250 ($ 340) visa could attract more than 300,000 people and their dependents to Britain and generate up to £ 2.9 billion of net benefits for the British economy over the next five years, according to government forecasts .
It is still highly uncertain how many people will actually accept the offer.
China says the West’s views on its actions in Hong Kong are obscured by misinformation and an imperial hangover.