After London pledged to provide a long-term refuge for those wishing to leave the city

China suspends recognition of British passports for residents of Hong Kong

Activist from Hong Kong holds a British passport.

EPA

China announced yesterday that it will "stop recognizing" the "British overseas passport" granted to the people of Hong Kong, at a time when Britain is preparing to open its doors to millions of residents of the former colony, after Beijing's security campaign in it.

The Chinese move comes after the British government pledged to provide a long-term refuge for Hong Kong residents wanting to leave the city.

And Hong Kong residents, who hold overseas passports issued from Britain, will be able to apply from tomorrow, to reside and work in Britain for up to five years, and they will eventually be able to apply for citizenship.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement, "I feel very proud that we have provided this new route for British overseas passport holders in Hong Kong, to reside, work and move to our country."

In the past, British overseas passport holders had limited rights to visit the UK for a period of up to six months, and were not permitted to work or reside there.

Beijing rushed to respond to the British move, yesterday. Its Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Legian told reporters, "As of January 31, China will stop recognizing the so-called British overseas passport as a travel and identity document, and it reserves the right to take additional steps."

London, in turn, confirmed that its decision came in response to the National Security Act imposed by China last year, and constituted a blow to the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, and to the freedoms that the city was supposed to preserve for 50 years, according to an agreement to hand it over from Britain to China in 1997.

Zhao noted that "disgruntled" China believes that Britain has violated the agreement by far, thus making it canceled.

“The United Kingdom is trying to convert large numbers of Hong Kong residents into second-class British citizens,” he said.

It has already completely changed the nature of British overseas passports. ”

It is not clear what the Chinese decision will practically mean, but there is no doubt that it represents an implementation of Beijing's threat to respond to Britain's offer of the long-term visa with punitive measures of some kind.

The threat to take further steps indicates that Beijing may be preparing to impose further restrictions on overseas British passport holders.

And Chinese officials warned, last year, that they might consider stopping recognizing British overseas passports.

They said at the time that this would mean that holders of those passports would no longer be able to travel to the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong residents use their Hong Kong passports or identity cards to leave the city.

They must use their Hong Kong-issued passports to enter the Chinese mainland.

They cannot use British overseas passports, except upon their arrival in Britain or any other country that recognizes the document.

"Disgruntled" China believes that Britain has long violated the agreement and thus made it "canceled".

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