Beijing`s push for Hong Kong version of the National Security Law has triggered many demonstration. in Hong Kong
The British government could provide a way to become a British citizen for Hong Kong people holding British nationals` overseas passports if China does not stop imposing the National Security Act in Hong Kong, Foreign Secretary Rabu (Dominic Raab) said on May 28.
The British National Overseas Passport (BNO,) is a special policy introduced by the UK for Hong Kong people before the handover of Hong Kong sovereignty in 1997. Some 300,000 people in Hong Kong now hold such passports, allowing them to stay in the UK for a maximum of six months without additional visas.
A large number of Hong Kong people hold BNO passports and HKSAR passports.
Some analysts say China may not mind some pan-nationals travelling to Britain, but may fear the loss of the elite that created wealth for Hong Kong.
The statement came just after the NPC passed a draft legislation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, which includes legislation on "subversion regime 、 secession, terrorist activities and outside interference ". Disregarding Beijing`s authority may constitute a crime in Hong Kong under the new law.
With the legislation bypassing hong kong`s legislation institutions, hong kong democrats and the law community are concerned that the move weakens hong kong`s "high degree of autonomy ", and that its content may conflict with hong kong`s safeguards human rights, and that there is a fear of" guilty by word "for those who criticize the government.
At the same time, Britain, along with the government of the United States, Australia and Canada, issued a joint statement condemning Beijing for pushing the National Security Act. The four countries stated that the implementation of the law would destroy the "one country, two systems" framework agreed before the handover of the Hong Kong sovereignty in 1997.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said to Zhao Lijian at a regular press conference on Friday, "All Hong Kong Chinese compatriots are Chinese citizens unless they hold a British Dependent Citizen Passport or a British National Overseas Passport", and Hong Kong affairs are "purely "China`s internal affairs", opposed to the unilateral change of practices in the United Kingdom, China has the right to take corresponding countermeasures.
What did rab say?
He said the UK could increase the duration of BNO holders` stay in the UK from six months to 12 months.
"Should China continue along this path and pursue this national security law, we will abolish the six-month limit, allow BNO passport holders to come to the UK, allow them to apply for work or study, and extend the period to 12 months, which in itself will provide a way for future applications for British citizen status ," he said.
Some British councillor even want Britain to go further in this regard, allowing BNO holders to automatically acquire citizen British identity. Tugenhart (Tom Tugendhat), chairman of the conservative councillor 、 lower house foreign affairs committee, said BNO holders should automatically have the right to live and work in britain.
The british government has previously rejected calls by some for hong kong BNO holders to automatically acquire british citizen status.
More than 100,000 Hong Kong people signed a joint letter last year calling for full British citizenship for BNO holders, when the British government responded that only British citizen and some Commonwealth countries had the right to detain, in the UK and cited a 2007 report saying giving holders full citizen would undermine the agreement between Britain and China on the transfer of Hong Kong sovereignty.
Yet in 1972 britain provided political asylum to some 30,000 ugandan asian citizens with british passports abroad, when military ruler of uganda, edi amin, ordered some 60,000 asian people to leave the country, which some british councillor believed india was responsible for refugee, but then british prime minister heath (Edward Heath) said britain was responsible for receiving them.
What does that mean?
The debate over "immigration" has been hot in hong kong since the counter-proposal, a trend exacerbated by last week`s launch of the national security law in beijing.
A 27-year-old with BNO passport, Mr. Zhou felt yesterday that it might be a "new chapter" in his life.
"This opened a door for many of us ," he said to The British Broadcasting Corporation in Chinese, currently serving as a civilian at a university. "[ If this policy is pursued] we have the possibility of finding any job or study in the UK, even obtaining resident status if the time stays long enough, and of course I know that it is not easy for foreigners to find jobs in the UK. At the same time, he stressed that this in itself was "due" to Hong Kong BNO holders.
Miss Yoon, a 25-year-old Hong Kong native, isn`t very excited about Mr Labb`s story. She said that the UK`s own unemployment rate had risen because of the new crown, but that the six-month extension to 12 months "did not help much ".
But she admits her idea leave hong kong has become more pressing because of the national security law. If she works for a foreign company, she fears that the company will become a "foreign power" and that a ban on fb, news agencies in the mainland will occur in Hong Kong. "This uncertainty makes many people want to emigrate as soon as possible ," she said.
Rabu did not give more details about the policy, and Xia Tianen (Tim Summers), a lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong`s China Research Center, said Rabu`s remarks were more "symbolic ." "It may make it easier to settle in the UK to some extent, but this is not the full resident status that some have called for ," he told The British Broadcasting Corporation in Chinese. "The specific impact needs to be further detailed in future announcements ".
BNO may be a matter of concern to china before the handover of the hong kong sovereignty, but for china today it is far less important than it was in the 1990s, says xia tianen, a former british consul in hong kong around 1997.
"Since China has changed, in the 1990s China feared that a large number of people leave Hong Kong would weaken Hong Kong`s competitiveness, but now China has become stronger, and the economic development of Hong Kong has undergone demographic changes ," he said.
The British Broadcasting Corporation foreign affairs journalist randall (James Landale) reported that mr rabb`s statement would be seen by beijing as an escalation, which could provoke fierce refutation. China may not mind some pan-nationals going to britain, he says, but may fear the loss of the elite that created wealth for hong kong.
British Concerns
Britain`s shadow cabinet foreign minister, nandi (Lisa Nandy), said earlier that britain needed to be tougher on beijing.
Regarding the National Security Law, she told the The British Broadcasting Corporation :" China is beginning to erode the joint declaration signed by China and the United Kingdom on the handover of the Hong Kong sovereignty, which is the latest step in a series of moves ".
The former British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said Britain should form an international alliance, to avoid a tragedy in Hong Kong.
"For that agreement, it was definitely the most dangerous period there so far ," he told The British Broadcasting Corporation.
"We have a unique law position, and it is indeed Britain`s duty to form an international alliance, to help Hong Kong people as much as possible. "
The British Prime Minister speaker expressed deep concern Thursday about China`s legislation "on Hong Kong`s national security ".
"Our statement has always been clear that this security law risks undermining the principle of one country, two systems. "
"We are in close contact with our international partners in this regard, and the Foreign Secretary has also spoken with the United States Secretary of State Pompeo last night. "
"The approach of the Chinese government puts the Joint Declaration under direct threat and undermines Hong Kong`s high degree of autonomy ," he said. "
Pompeo said on Wednesday that developments in Hong Kong showed that Hong Kong was no longer seen as having a "high degree of autonomy ".
If Hong Kong no longer enjoys special treatment under the law of the United States, Hong Kong`s position as a trade center could be shaken.
BNO what kind of identity
BNO identity is a British "nationality" established through the Hong Kong Act 1985 after the British and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration confirming the transfer of sovereignty to Hong Kong.
Only persons associated with Hong Kong through birth or registration prior to the handover of sovereignty in 1997 can obtain BNO status, which has been permanently completed after the handover of sovereignty, meaning that many of the participants in the demonstration do not have this status. About 300,000 people now have BNO passports, the British Consulate General in Hong Kong said.
Previously BNO was more often a travel document than British citizen rights and residency, but the UK Election Commission website showed that BNO passport holders qualify for Commonwealth citizen.
BNO holders can not use British public funds, including government benefits, or transfer this status to their children.
