BEIJING (AP) – China said on Friday it would no longer recognize Britain’s overseas national passport as a valid travel document or form of identification amid a bitter dispute with London over a plan to allow millions of Hong Kong residents a route of residence and possible citizenship.
The announcement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday launched a new uncertainty around the plan just hours after Britain said it would start receiving applications for so-called BNO visas late Sunday.
Under the plan, up to 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 rose after Beijing last year imposed a new comprehensive national security law on the former British colony 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 BNO’s original understanding of the two sides,” Zhao told reporters in a daily briefing.
“This move seriously violates China’s sovereignty, seriously interferes in Hong Kong’s affairs and China’s internal affairs, and seriously violates international law and the basic rules of international relations,” he said. “China will no longer recognize the so-called NBO passport as a travel document and proof of identity as of January 31 and reserves the right to take further action.”
Many Hong Kong citizens 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. As an additional protection of personal privacy, a mobile application will allow applicants to download their biometric information without having to be seen visiting the UK visa office.
The NBO passport was initially a disappointment to Hong Kong when it was first offered before Hong Kong surrendered to the Chinese leadership in 1997. At the time, it offered only the right to visit for six months without the right to work or to become a full citizen. . Applicants must have been born before the date of delivery.
However, pressure has increased to extend such privileges as China has increasingly repressed civilian and political life in Hong Kong, which critics say violates China’s commitment to maintaining a separate way of life. the city for 50 years after surrender. China first declared the Sino-British Declaration of 1984, which provided for the nullity of surrender agreements, despite its recognition by the United Nations, and then imposed national security law on the territory after the city legislature was unable to adopt it from sine.
“I am extremely proud to have brought this new path for Hong Kong’s NBOs to live, work and make their home in our country,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.
“In doing so, we have honored our deep ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong and championed freedom and autonomy – the values for both Britain and Hong Kong are dear.”