Britain is prepared to offer extended visa rights and a pathway to citizenship for almost 3 million Hong Kong residents in response to China's push to impose national security legislation in the former British colony.
FILE PHOTO: Priti Patel arrives at Downing Street in London, Britain February 13, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville LONDON - Britain is prepared to offer extended visa rights and a pathway to citizenship for almost 3 million Hong Kong residents in response to China’s push to impose national security legislation in the former British colony.
China’s parliament has approved a decision to go forward with national security legislation for Hong Kong that democracy activists, diplomats and some in the business world fear will jeopardise its semi-autonomous status and its role as a global financial hub.Foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Thursday that if Beijing went ahead, Britain would extend the rights of 350,000 ‘British National Overseas’ passport holders. On Friday the interior ministry said that this policy would apply to all BNOs currently in Hong Kong - a much larger group of around 2.9 million people according to British government figures. “If China imposes this law, we will explore options to allow British Nationals Overseas to apply for leave to stay in the UK, including a path to citizenship,” Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a statement.Beijing says the new legislation, likely to come into force before September, will tackle secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in the city. Chinese authorities and Hong Kong’s government say the legislation poses no threat to the city’s autonomy and the interests of foreign investors will be preserved.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
China approves proposal for Hong Kong security law that curtails its autonomyChina’s National People’s Congress endorses controversial new law to ban all “activities” in Hong Kong that endanger China’s national security at the closing session of its annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing.
Read more »
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai says only Trump can save Hong Kong from China - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web.
Read more »
China approves Hong Kong draft security law'Hong Kong, in many ways, has become the new Berlin: the new meeting point of a big argument of big disagreement between two major powers.'
Read more »
{function c(){var b=a.contentDocument||a.contentWindow.document;if(b){var d=b.createElement('script');d.innerHTML=)