UK urges China to reconsider Hong Kong security law
The UK has urged Chinese authorities to reconsider the implementation of a new security law on the city of Hong Kong, Boris Johnson’s spokesman said today.
“We have urged China to reconsider the implementation of this law and live up to its responsibilities as a leading member of the international community,” Number 10 said.
“We hope they will listen carefully to the arguments we have made in public and in private about the impact which Beijing’s proposal would have on Hong Kong.”
The move comes after the UK yesterday issued a joint statement with the US, Australia and Canada saying that the new Chinese legislation would “dramatically erode Hong Kong’s autonomy”.
Earlier today a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said that Beijing firmly opposed the statement and had lodged representations with the countries.
US president Donald Trump is expected to give a press conference on the issue later today.
On Wednesday secretary of state Mike Pompeo confirmed that Hong Kong could no longer be considered “autonomous” from the mainland, raising fears that the city-state’s privileged economic status could be under threat.
The UK also laid out further details of its plans to extend visa rights to British nationals overseas (BNOs) living in Hong Kong should China follow through with the law.
Yesterday, Dominic Raab confirmed that the government would look at means to enable BNOs from Hong Kong to come to the UK for up to a year without needing a visa.
Raab said that the step would “itself provide a path to citizenship” for such people.
A statement from the Home Office this afternoon appeared to clarify that the new visa rights would apply to all BNOs in Hong Kong, not just those with passports.
There are currently 2.9m BNOs living in the former overseas territory, around 350,000 of which hold British passports.
The statement read: “Today the UK Government announced that if China follows through with its new national security law, the UK government will explore options to allow BNOs to apply for leave to stay in the UK, if eligible, for an extendable period of 12 months”.
Hong Kong BNOs currently have the right to enter the UK for six months.