BEIJING (AP) – China said Friday that it will no longer recognize the British National Overseas passport as a valid travel document or ID amid bitter feud with London over a plan to give millions of Hong Kong residents a route to residency and eventually citizenship . .
The announcement by State Department spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday raises new uncertainty about the plan, just hours after the UK said it would start filing applications for so-called BNO visas from late Sunday.
Under the plan, as many as 5.4 million Hong Kong residents could be eligible to live and work in the UK for five years and then apply for citizenship. Demand soared after Beijing imposed a sweeping new national security law on the former British colony last year after months of pro-democracy protests.
“The British side’s attempt to turn a large number of Hong Kong people into second-class British citizens has completely changed the nature of the original understanding of BNO by both sides,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.
“This move is a serious violation of China’s sovereignty, grossly interferes with Hong Kong’s affairs and China’s internal affairs, and seriously violates international law and basic standards of international relations,” he said. “China will no longer recognize the so-called BNO passport as a travel document and proof of identity as of January 31 and reserves the right to take further measures.”
Many Hong Kongers carry multiple passports and it is unclear what the Chinese government could do to prevent people from entering the UK through the BNO visa plan. To further protect privacy, a mobile phone app allows applicants to download their biometric information without having to visit the UK visa office.
The BNO passport was originally a disappointment to Hong Kongers when it was first presented prior to Hong Kong’s handover to Chinese rule in 1997. At the time, it only offered the right to visit for six months without the right to work or a full-fledged become a citizen. . Applicants had to be born before the transfer date.
However, the pressure to expand such privileges grew as China increasingly suppressed civil and political life in Hong Kong in what critics say is contrary to China’s commitment to the city’s segregated way of life for 50 years after the handover. to keep. China first annulled the 1984 Sino-British Declaration setting out the transfer arrangements despite the recognition by the United Nations and then imposed the national security law on the territory after the city’s legislature was unable to pass it on its own.
“I am extremely proud that we have introduced this new route for Hong Kong BNOs to live, work and live in our country,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.
“In doing this, we have honored our deep historical ties and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have stood up for freedom and autonomy – values that are highly valued by both the UK and Hong Kong.”