The UK is preparing to welcome thousands of migrants from Hong Kong following the approval of the city's national security law last year.
The UK government expects tens of thousands of Hong Kong migrants after the approval of the sweeping national security law in 2020 and said it will offer a new visa for residents of the former British colony.
Controversial national security law
Last June, the China’s central government passed the controversial national security law, bypassing the city’s legislators. The passage took place a day before the anniversary marking Hong Kong’s handover from the UK to mainland China on July 1, 1997.
According to critics, the new legislation will erode the autonomy placed on the special administrative region for 50 years after the handover or until 2047. However, there is no clarity on the result when the policy ceases.
However, the Chinese government argued that the legislation aims to prevent secession, terrorism activities, subversion of state power, and foreign interference. The legislation was proposed during China’s annual parliamentary meeting in late May and sparked protests in Hong Kong over fears that the city’s liberties would wane.
In her statement in May, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said that the rights and freedoms of the public will still be intact. She explained that the national security law “aims to prevent, curb and sanction an extremely small minority of criminals who threaten national security, safeguarding the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and maintaining ‘One Country, Two Systems.’”
“It will not affect the legitimate rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents. ‘One Country, Two Systems’ has been Hong Kong’s top advantage, and a stable and safe society will provide a favorable business and investment environment,” her statement read.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “China is modelling Hong Kong after itself. No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground.”
UK's new BN(O) program
As soon as the law was proposed, the UK government immediately announced that it will offer a new path to citizenship for those with British National (Overseas) passports.
These BN(O) passports were introduced in the final years of British rule over Hong Kong, to grant the city's residents a degree of British citizenship, although without any long term right of abode in the UK.
However, the new program will allow those with BN(O) status and their eligible family members to travel to the UK to live, study and work, become eligible for settlement in five years, and apply for citizenship a year after that.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that by initiating the program, "we have honored our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have stood up for freedom and autonomy -- values both the UK and Hong Kong hold dear."
In response to the announcement, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian accused the UK of "disregarding the fact that Hong Kong has returned to the motherland for 24 years" and violating promises made at the time of handover.
Lijian said the program "seriously violates China's sovereignty, grossly interferes in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs, and seriously violates international law and basic norms of international relations."
