HONG KONG (Reuters) – The Hong Kong government on Thursday confirmed a Reuters report that had told 14 countries to stop accepting a British travel document many of its young people use to apply for work holiday visas in Europe, North America and parts of Asia.
In a move seen by some envoys as a diplomatic affront, the government informed foreign consulates in a letter that it no longer considered the British National Overseas Passport (BNO) a valid travel document from 31 January.
The letter, seen by Reuters and confirmed by the Hong Kong government after the story was published, demanded that his Hong Kong passport be used.
A generation of diplomats erupted over the BNO in January after Britain introduced a new visa plan that offered a path to full citizenship for Hong Kongers who want to leave China-ruled territory.
Britain launched the scheme after Hong Kong passed a powerful national security law last year that critics say is crushing dissent in the former British colony.
“The Hong Kong government has no authority to dictate what passports foreign governments recognize as valid,” a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said when asked about the Reuters report.
“The UK will continue to issue British (overseas) passports that remain valid travel documents.”
Nearly 3 million Hong Kong residents have or are eligible for the BNO document that was created before Britain returned the city to Chinese rule in 1997.
Hong Kong has also begun to reflect mainland China by not recognizing dual nationality, preventing for the first time foreign diplomats from visiting premises with detained foreign passports.
“Most countries will ignore this,” said a senior Western diplomat who had seen the letter.
“The Hong Kong government is proving it … They have no right to tell any state which foreign passports it can recognize.”
Another envoy described the movement as “bordering on the belligerent” and said it was not the way the Hong Kong government, generally aware of the city’s position as an international financial center, has behaved. traditionally.
LEGISLATION
In a statement to Reuters, the Hong Kong government said, “Participants in Hong Kong under the Holidays Business Program should be limited to HKSAR passport holders,” referring to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region document. Kong.
“The HKSAR government has formally notified the 14 partner countries that had signed labor holiday agreements with Hong Kong.”
A Hong Kong government website lists Japan, Canada, Germany, Britain, Sweden, Ireland and Australia among the countries in the program.
Officials from Japan, South Korea, Italy, Sweden and New Zealand confirmed to Reuters that they still recognize the BNO passport for visas. The South Korean Foreign Ministry added that it had not received the letter, while Hungary said it had received and initiated talks to change the holiday work program.
Other countries, including the United States, Finland, and Norway, also offer similar student arrangements or exchanges for Hong Kong and have accepted BNOs from applicants.
It is not known if the United States also received the letter, but a State Department spokesman told Reuters that the BNO was still valid for issuing visas and for traveling to the United States.
Hong Kong’s moves against the BNO followed an announcement by the UK government that its new visa could attract more than 300,000 people and their dependents.
London said it was fulfilling a historic and moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong under the national security law, which allows suspects in serious cases to be transferred from the border and tried in mainland Chinese courts.
Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong say legislation is needed to provide stability to the city following anti-government protests that erupted in 2019.
The UK scheme allows those with BNO status to live, study and work in Britain for five years and ultimately apply for citizenship.
Beijing said it would turn them into second-class citizens, a line propagated by pro-Beijing media commentators in Hong Kong.
Britain returned its former colony to Chinese rule in 1997 with guarantees of its fundamental freedoms, broad autonomy, and capitalist way of life.
Reports by Greg Torode and Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong, additional reports by Krisztina Than in Hungary, Antoni Slodkowski in Tokyo, Hyonhee Shin in South Korea, Praveen Menon in New Zealand, Simon Johnson in Sweden, Guy Faulconbridge in London and Crispian Balmer in Italy; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Hugh Lawson and Alison Williams