U.K. Plans Citizenship for Hong Kong Residents in Row With China

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned the government will open a path to citizenship for 300,000 Hong Kong residents unless China backs down on its planned security laws.

Raab said visa rights will be extended for British National (Overseas) passport holders as the dispute with Beijing over the reforms to Hong Kong residents’ rights escalated.

The minister said he was making the move after China formally announced their decision “to impose security legislation on the people of Hong Kong.” Britain, the U.S., Canada and Australia issued a joint statement urging China to halt its plans.

“We are deeply troubled about this step,” Raab said in a pooled television interview Thursday. “What we now would like to see is China just pause for thought and step back from this step, reconsider and above all live up to its international obligations.”

In defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese lawmakers approved sweeping new national security laws for Hong Kong, a measure that democracy advocates say will limit essential freedoms in the former British colony.

The U.K. government says the new law violates the autonomy and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, in breach of international treaty commitments.

A key question for the U.K. is how to help the 300,000 people in Hong Kong who have British National (Overseas) passports. The foreign secretary said the U.K. will offer them a haven if Beijing does not back down.

These BN(O) passport holders currently have the right to come to the U.K. for six months. “If China continues down this path and implements this national security legislation, we will change that status,” Raab said.

“We will remove that six month limit and allow those BN(O) passport holders to come to the U.K. and to apply to work and study for extendible periods of 12 months -- and that will itself provide a pathway to future citizenship.”

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