As of Sunday, Hong Kong residents can apply for a visa that paves the way for British citizenship, according to Reuters. The new program coincides with the fact that China and Hong Kong no longer recognize the British National Overseas Passport (BNO) as a valid travel document. The UK and China have been in talks over China’s attempt to silence pro-democracy protesters who were arrested in large numbers in 2019 and 2020.
The UK government says the new visa program is part of a moral commitment to Hong Kong residents after Beijing imposed a strict security law that violates the terms of the agreement under which the semi-autonomous city is returned to China in 1997. The visa program is expected to attract more than 300,000 people living in both Hong Kong and Britain. China said those who obtained the visa would become “second-class citizens.”
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