Hongkongers with BN(O) passports will be able to obtain British citizenship if China enforces the national security laws in the city, the British government announced on Thursday, marking a dramatic shift to London’s long-held policy.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Home Secretary Priti Patel made the move on the day China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, announced the decision to impose national security legislation on the former British colony.
British National (Overseas) passports were issued to Hongkongers born before the 1997 handover, and under current rules, passport holders can visit the UK for up for six months but cannot work or apply for citizenship. As of December, 300,000 Hongkongers held a BN(O) passport.
Raab said Britain was now ready to change this rule.
“If China continues down this path and implements this national security legislation we will change that status, and we will remove that six-month limit and allow those BN(O) passport holders to come to the UK and to apply to work and study for extendable periods of 12 months, and that would itself provide a pathway to future citizenship,” Raab told reporters.
“In the meantime we urge China to step back from the brink and live up to its responsibilities as a leading member of the international community,” he added.
Raab’s plan was echoed by Patel, who was understood to have been more supportive in the past of BN(O)-holding Hongkongers than Raab.
“Deeply concerned at China’s proposals for legislation related to national security in Hong Kong,” the home secretary, who is responsible for immigration issues, wrote on Twitter. “If imposed, @DominicRaab & I will explore options for a path to citizenship for BNO passport holders.”
Johnny Patterson, director of the London-based Hong Kong Watch group, said the British government should be prepared to take more action for Hongkongers.
“If things deteriorate further, the UK will need to consider extending the scheme beyond 12 months, up to and including right of abode, and encourage other international partners to create a lifeboat scheme to ensure all Hongkongers, including those born after 1997, have a lifeline,” Patterson said.
The change in British policy came a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that Hong Kong no longer enjoyed a high degree of autonomy as promised by Beijing.
Until now, Britain – plagued by an anti-immigrant sentiment that led to the referendum that resulted in Brexit – was reluctant to grant BN(O) holders full citizenship.
Hongkongers now living in Britain said they saw several “devils in the detail” from Raab's statement.
Apart from not applying to those born after the handover – which makes up a sizeable portion of frontline protesters in Hong Kong – Raab’s assurance also falls short of an immediate recognition of citizenship.
It appears that the British government is reluctant to offer guarantees of an indefinite right to stay, with details lacking on the conditions for the yearly renewals, such as whether the applicant would need to meet a financial threshold.
It is also unclear how long a BN(O) holder would need to stay in order to start the citizenship application process.
The fact that the Conservative Party controls the majority of the House of Commons makes it likely that a bill changing BN(O) status will win sufficient support.
“This is a fantastic news and a great credit to” Raab and Patel, said Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Parliament’s foreign affairs committee. “Some of us have been calling for it for a while. Now we need to go further and recognise the full rights of British nationals.”
