Hong Kong security law: UK confirms visa offer to 3m Hong Kong residents
The UK has confirmed it will offer visas to 2.9m Hong Kong residents with a route to citizenship, after the imposition of new security laws by Beijing.
Hong Kong residents with British National Overseas status and their dependents will be able to access five-year work or study visas, with a chance to apply for settled status at the end of this period.
Holders of the bespoke visa will be able to apply for British citizenship 12 months after being granted settled status, and there will be no quotas or limits on the scheme.
Under the laws imposed today by Beijing, criticism of the Chinese government has been made a criminal offence with potential jail terms of 10 years to life.
The Chinese government will now also set up its own security agency offices in the region for the first time.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and foreign secretary Dominic Raab both said that the new laws violated the UK-China treaty drafted in 1984 when the handover of Hong Kong was agreed between the two nations.
Raab called the new laws a “flagrant assault on freedom of speech and freedom of protest”, and that today was a “sad day”.
“We will live up to its responsibilities to the people of Hong Kong,” he said.
“It is precisely why we respect China as a leading member of the international community that we expect the Chinese government to meet its international obligations to live up to its international responsibilities.”
More than 300 people have already been arrested today under the national security law and for the protests it has sparked.
The police force tweeted that the first person to be arrested under the law was detained for displaying a flag that said “Hong Kong independence”.
Speaking to MPs at Prime Minister’s Question’s today, Johnson first confirmed that it would enact its visa programme for Hong Kong residents with British National Overseas status.
“The enactment and imposition of this national security law constitutes a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British joint declaration. It violates Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and is in direct conflict with Hong Kong’s direct and basic law.”