The United Kingdom is considering a citizenship offer Hong Kongers. This would only apply to Hong Kongers who possess the British National Overseas (BNO) passport document, which was granted to residents who registered for it prior to Britain handing Hong Kong back to China in 1997. More than 314,000 BNO holders reside in the semi-autonomous territory, according to the Home Office. Their status currently entitles them to seek consular assistance from the UK but is not equivalent to British citizenship.

On Thursday, Britain’s Home Office Secretary, Priti Patel, said she and the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab were exploring ways to provide more rights for BNO passport holders, including extending a “path to citizenship.” “Deeply concerned at China’s proposals for legislation related to national security in Hong Kong,” Patel wrote on Twitter. “If imposed, @DominicRaab & I will explore options for a path to citizenship for BNO passport holders. The UK will continue to defend the rights & freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.”

It followed an announcement by Raab earlier on Thursday in which he told the British press that greater visa rights were in the cards for BNO passport holders.

“In relation to BNO passport holders, as you know, currently they 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,” he said.

“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 and that will itself provide a pathway to future citizenship,” he added. The offer has been welcomed by a broad range of Conservative lawmakers and the opposition Labour Party. Lisa Nandy, shadow foreign secretary, called it “an important first step in fulfilling our longstanding obligation to the people of Hong Kong,” in a statement. She added that it reflected “the seriousness of the threat posed by China’s approval of new national security legislation earlier today.” It is an unexpected move from the British government, which has been vowing to end the free movement of European citizens and introduce a new points-based immigration system.

DETAILS: https://theupdates.net/uk-to-offer-citizenship-hong-kongers/

By that action, Britain will be able to defend them against the excesses of the Chinese govt.

Uk planning to Annex hong-kong in a romantic way.

One by one china go hear am.

the trash leave hong kong china to meet their white masters.

good news for china !

less trash in hong kong, more room for chinese.