The UK announced last Friday that Hong Kong people with British National (Overseas) Passport (BNO) status can apply for BNO residence visas from Sunday. China and the Hong Kong SAR government announced countermeasures on the same day, starting Sunday not to recognize BNO as a valid identification and travel document. Some commentators and scholars have analyzed that the Chinese side may not have further countermeasures, even if the cancellation of the voting rights of BNO holders will not have much impact, because under the national security law, the electoral space of Hong Kong people has been significantly narrowed. Some Hong Kong people who plan to apply for BNO immigrant visas said that China’s countermeasures instead accelerate applications to immigrate to the United Kingdom, voting with their feet to cast a vote of no confidence in Hong Kong’s political future.
Britain officially began accepting BNO Hong Kong people to apply for settlement visas
The British government said last year, due to serious violations of national security laws “Sino-British Joint Declaration, the United Kingdom will be a British National (Overseas) Passport (BNO) Hong Kong people and their families, to provide a new way to immigrate to naturalize, commonly known as the 5 + 1 program, holding BNO in the United Kingdom after 5 years of residence can apply for settlement status, and then stay in the United Kingdom for one more year, you can formally apply to become a British citizen.
The British government announced last Friday (January 29) that Hong Kong people with BNO status, regardless of whether the BNO passport held is valid or has been lost passport, Hong Kong Time Sunday (January 31) from 5 p.m. onwards, can apply for a BNO residence visa.
The UK estimates that there are about 5.4 million eligible Hong Kong people, of which nearly 3 million are BNO holders, and it is expected that at least 258,000 people will use this route to apply for residence in the UK in the first five years.
The Chinese and Hong Kong SAR governments announced countermeasures last Friday, and on Sunday began not to recognize BNOs as valid identification and travel documents. The Hong Kong Immigration Department said that when passengers board a flight to Hong Kong from abroad, airlines must ask the relevant Hong Kong residents to show their Hong Kong SAR passports or identity cards, and Hong Kong residents leaving the country are not allowed to use BNOs, but must use their identity cards or SAR passports.
Miss Chow, a middle-class Hong Kong citizen in her 50s who supports the anti-China movement and works in the Education industry, was interviewed by the Voice of America and said that the implementation of the National Security Law on June 30 last year has prompted her to want to emigrate out of Hong Kong and to apply for a BNO 5+1 immigrant visa. Many of her friends around her have the same plan, and the recent announcement by the Chinese and Hong Kong SAR governments not to recognize the BNO passport as a countermeasure will not shake their determination to immigrate to the UK.
Miss Zhou said: “Because I and my friends will feel that is the people leave, safely leave this is the premise, other things or how to come back to Hong Kong later, because we actually I have some very good friends, they are now in the release of unsuccessful sale of property, of course, we may have different views, or some of the older Family members are still in Hong Kong, we will have some burden in Hong Kong.”
Ms. Zhou said she originally planned to leave Hong Kong in July and August this year only after settling into the work handover and other issues, the police in early January to the National Security Law big search for 53 people who had participated in the democratic primary election related to the idea of accelerating her departure from Hong Kong in April. Since China’s January 29 announcement of countermeasures against BNO passports, more determined, and has resigned immediately. She will apply for a BNO 5+1 immigrant visa through a mobile application on Feb. 23 at the earliest, and may not wait until she has dealt with all the issues of selling her property and shipping her luggage, worrying that her plans will not keep up with the rapidly changing political environment.
Miss Zhou said, “Because maybe our thinking is too late for political changes, so I do not rule out the possibility that suddenly two or three weeks later will buy a ticket to go, this is I think is more and more insecure, the more I feel very much want to leave this place so quickly with a sense of crisis.”
Miss Zhou said that China is trying to stop Hong Kong people fleeing Hong Kong with money, but also want to retain some professionals. However, she believes that China does not recognize BNO’s countermeasures to make Hong Kong people more resentful and more uneasy.
Worried that Hong Kong will become a submissive people in Xinjiang in the future fear of emotional illness
Ms. Chow said that after the implementation of the National Security Law at the end of June last year, the Hong Kong government has continued to introduce more measures to restrict the freedom of Hong Kong people, including the recent plan to require the use of mobile phone cards real name registration. She fears that in the future, Hong Kong may become a large prison like Xinjiang, if you continue to be a submissive people, will only lead to their own emotional illness.
Miss Chow said, “But I think it every time that is to propose these things, in fact, is to try our bottom line, if we continue to do so submissive words, will only make our future Life, or our next generation will live in a place of sincere fear.”
Hong Kong people are more active in applying for BNO residence in the United Kingdom for fear of the United Kingdom fall gate
The same plan to speed up the pace of migration to the United Kingdom of Hong Kong, Miss Tang worried that China’s next step will be to restrict the departure of Hong Kong people to the United Kingdom, or the United Kingdom will apply for BNO immigrant visa because of the large number of people, after a few years may stop the plan, or raise the application threshold.
Ms. Tang said, “I’m afraid that because of the Brexit now, it may be necessary to really the British government that side wants more Hong Kong people will go over, but it will not be to a certain number of times it will fall gate (stop this new policy) it?
Vote with your feet Vote of no confidence in the political future of Hong Kong
Miss Tang said that many of her friends around her hope to leave the city, which is increasingly elbowed, to a new place to live or will be happier.
Ms. Tang expects that the Legislative Council elections postponed from September last year to September this year may be cancelled, the future of Hong Kong people have the right to vote have become doubtful, she chose to emigrate can be said to vote with their feet on the political future of Hong Kong vote of no confidence.
Ms. Tang said, “That is, we may feel that since here (Hong Kong) have been, election this system has been called no, this identity, that is, we are now this (Hong Kong people) identity actually what role?”
Tao Jie predicts that the Chinese countermeasures will end here
Current affairs commentator Tao Jie said on Sunday on Radio Television Hong Kong‘s “City Forum” that China’s claim that it reserves the right to take further action is believed to mean that it ends here. He believes China will not wait for millions of people to leave Hong Kong before announcing further measures if it wants to stop a wave of flight from Hong Kong.
Tao Jie said: “This when you (China) said to reserve the right to do something, to the Chinese direction from the approach that is to stop here, this first. Second, we go by the logic of the above, if it is something like Liu Zhaojia or those other scholars said, after the harsh kill, how it will stay at the end it? If I were the Chinese side I would have spoken out in the morning, my purpose is to deter you from going, my purpose is not to say that after I create some images of the sea of anger, I do not let you come back, because now (China) the most important is face and dignity, is not it?
Scholars say the abolition of BNO voting rights has little impact
Further countermeasures by the Chinese government may be rumored to cancel the voting rights of BNO holders, but Guan Zhongran, a lecturer in the Department of Asian and Policy Studies at the University of Education who attended the same forum, said that there would not be much impact on Hong Kong people who intend to emigrate to the UK because the electoral space for Hong Kong people has been significantly narrowed under the national security law.
Guan Zhongran said, “But if I am a pan-democratic supporters, opposition supporters also no problem, because I support that person, he will not be able to participate to the election, so you do not have the right to vote for today’s Hong Kong people, in fact, no matter what color you are, what camp is good, in fact, there is no impact.”
Lam Cheng expects not too many Hong Kong people will be willing to move to the United Kingdom
In addition, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a recent interview with Bloomberg that not many Hong Kong people would be willing to move to the UK because the British National health Service is under tremendous pressure, and she also appreciated the Hong Kong healthcare system.
However, Mrs. Lam also said she respects anyone’s decision to move, and she stressed that the Hong Kong government needs to work hard to improve the lives of Hong Kong residents.
Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Rita Cheng said in a weblog on Saturday that the HKSAR government is fully cooperating with China’s countermeasures against the British government over the handling of the BNO passport issue. She said that the Sino-British Joint Declaration does not contain any provision for Britain to assume any rights and responsibilities after the return of Hong Kong. When China and Britain signed the Joint Declaration, they also immediately exchanged memoranda on nationality issues. In the memorandum, the UK stated that the British government would not grant the right of abode in the UK to Chinese citizens holding BNO passports in Hong Kong. The UK considered the provisions of the UK Memorandum to be binding.
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