‘Rubber check’ for HK BNO passport holders to backfire

Hong Kong police seized a masked man who stabbed a police officer Wednesday amid the unauthorized rally on his way to his one-way flight to the UK. The violent rally was regarded as a provocation and “one last audacity” after the national security law for the Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region (HKSAR) was enacted on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old man’s experience might be a microcosm of some British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders who intend to migrate to the UK after the UK said it will expand the visafree access of Hong Kong’s BNO holders from six months to five years. They will be able to apply for settled status at this point, and join the lottery to seek official citizenship after a year.

Analysts believe that on the topic of the BNO, the UK seems to enjoy the leadership of Western country from centuries ago, as the US and Australia, and probably more members of the “Five Eyes” allies and anti-China camp will be set to welcome some Hong Kong rioters after Britain Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s endeavor.

Rabb reached the four other countries of the alliance, discussing the possibility of burden sharing if there’s a mass exodus from Hong Kong.

Also, Bloomberg reported that a bipartisan group of US senators is proposing refugee status to Hong Kong residents who took part in protests.

Chinese observers said that the “rubber check” from some Western countries may only appeal to a few rioters in Hong Kong.

Fan Peng, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Political Sciences, said that only a small number of rioters who are intimidated by the national security law might regard the BNO as “a life-saving straw.”

The cost of restarting life in other countries is huge, and could lead to a struggle for a job. “I don’t think many Hong Kong people would give up everything in the motherland to become sec