UK plans citizenship for Hong Kong’s residents

LONDON/ HONG KONG: Terming China’s new security law a violation of an agreement reached when the UK handed over Hong Kong in 1997, London plans to offer citizenship to over 310,000 residents of its former colony.

Nearly 315,000 Hong Kong residents who registered before the 1997 handover are entitled to ‘British National (Overseas)’ status, which allows limited entry to the UK. There has been a longstanding campaign to extend them full citizenship rights.

The announcement from UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab came as a joint statement by the UK, US, Australia and Canada expressed “deep concern” over the new law that prompted more protests in Hong Kong.

“Currently they (BNO passport holders) only have the right to come to the UK for six months. If China continues down this path and implements this national security legislation, we will change that status, and we will remove that six-month limit and allow those BNO passport holders to come to the UK and to apply to work and study for extendable periods of 12 months,” Raab said.

China warned on Friday that it will not let the US “kidnap” the UN Security Council after Washington and London put the security law before the world body.

The law would punish secession and terrorism, as well as allow Chinese security agencies to operate openly in Hong Kong.

On Friday, dozens of people in Hong Kong protested against it.