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Britain wants to help Hong Kongers: If China passes the controversial security law for the city, Premier Johnson will offer citizens easier naturalization. Beijing is angry.
In the dispute over the planned security law of China for Hong Kong, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised naturalization in Great Britain to a large part of the population of the Chinese special administrative region.
Johnson wrote in a guest post for The Times and the South China Morning Post that if China passed the law, he would not leave the people in the former British Crown Colony alone. Then Britain would "have no choice" but to make extensive changes to its immigration law.
"If China advances, it would be a direct violation of the Joint Declaration, a legally binding treaty that is registered with the United Nations," said Johnson. It says that the "one country, two systems" principle does not affect the social and economic system in Hong Kong - as does the lifestyle and essential rights and freedoms of Hong Kong's seven million people.
Today 350,000 Hong Kong citizens have a passport for British citizens abroad (BNO), another 2.5 million would have a claim: These could clear the way for naturalization, said Johnson. Instead of the previous six, they could in future be granted twelve months' stay in Great Britain - with the option of renewal. They were also supposed to get a work permit and extended immigration rights, which brought them to citizenship.
Demonstrators hold up a British national passport and a Hong Kong colonial flag during a protest against China's controversial security law.
China reacts angrily: Government spokesman Zhao Lijian warned the British government: Britain is being rude and ruthless and interfering in China's affairs with unfounded accusations, said Zhao. Interference would "definitely backfire" for London.
"We advise Britain to step back from the abyss, to abandon the Cold War mentality and colonial mindset," Zhao said. London should respect that Hong Kong is no longer part of the UK. The former British crown colony was handed over to China on July 1, 1997, but continues to enjoy special rights vis-à-vis China.
Given the protests in Hong Kong that had been going on last summer, the Beijing People's Congress had approved the National Security Protection Act. The law bypasses Hong Kong's parliament. It targets activities that Beijing sees as subversive or separatist. It also opposes foreign interference. Critics fear that the proposed law will curtail the freedom of the people there and undermine Hong Kong's autonomy.
