In response to the Chinese Communist Party’s implementation of the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law in Hong Kong in July last year, the British government is offering a new pathway for BNO (British National (Overseas) Passport) holders and their families to immigrate and become naturalized, and the relevant immigration applications will be accepted from Jan. 31. To this end, pro-establishment legislator Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee recently suggested that Beijing should abolish dual citizenship for Hong Kong people, and that those who join a foreign nationality will have to give up their Chinese nationality and no longer have the right of abode and voting rights in Hong Kong, drawing a strong backlash from the outside world. The move may accelerate the emigration of middle-class people from Hong Kong.
According to the Voice of America, former democratic legislator Emily Lau criticized in an interview that she was working for Beijing and was an enemy of the people of Hong Kong. She believes that it is quite outrageous for Mrs. Ip to target the victims of Hong Kong while she is not happy with the British government’s approach.
She said that Hong Kong people have the right to choose their own future. And, even if they immigrate to Australia, or immigrate to Canada, it takes a few years to become a naturalized citizen, after which Chinese citizenship can be cancelled, and the immediate cancellation is incomprehensible.
Miss Chow, a middle-class Hong Kong citizen who plans to apply for a BNO immigrant visa, said the proposals would only make her more resentful of Beijing and the Hong Kong government and speed up the migration of middle-class people out of Hong Kong.
If things get worse faster, she said, it will only make the middle class more worried about whether their assets will be taken away later. Paying more taxes to such a government won’t help the little people, so it’s better to take the money to a new place and make a desperate attempt to do a challenge.
She also said that now many of her friends are already talking about immigration, are discussing when to leave, how to leave, and how to go about opening an offshore account to move the money overseas first, if the epidemic eases over in the UK, after customs clearance we will actually all go one after another.” And engaged in teachers and other public officials because they have to swear allegiance and give up dual citizenship, may also consider early retirement, or resign to leave Hong Kong.
According to a study published by the Hong Kong Overseas Chinese Association (Hongkongers in Britain) in mid-December last year, after the UK decided to relax the immigration conditions for Hong Kong people holding BNO last year, 80% of them said they would immigrate within two years, and most respondents plan to immigrate with their other half and children, and it is estimated that the first two years of Hong Kong people applying for new immigrant visas will reach 600,000.
BNO residence visa (Hong Kong BNO Visa) will accept applications from January 31, 2021.
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