I am pleased the Prime Minister has offered a pathway to British citizenship for Hong Kong residents who hold British National (Overseas) (BNO) passports and their dependents following China’s crackdown in the former colony.
That China has opted to impose a new, wide-ranging security law on Hong Kong poses a serious threat to freedoms there and is in a clear breach of its international obligations under the 1984 one country, two systems deal.
The UK will always be a friend to the people of Hong Kong. It can now also be a home to an estimated three million of them who have the option of residency and eventually citizenship in our free and democratic country.
Today, I asked the Foreign Secretary whether travel advice needed to be updated for UK travellers to Hong Kong and for reassurance the UK would continue to speak out against this violation of Hong Kong citizens’ rights.
