Boris Johnson says 3m people in Hong Kong will get path to UK citizenship

The Prime Minister has offered to make what he says would be one of the “biggest changes” to the British visa system in the history

Boris Johnson has said that the UK government is set to open the door to nearly three million Hong Kong citizens, that is if China imposes a new security law that many have said would rob the former colony of the British Empire of its autonomy.

This comes after the releasing of important coronavirus information during the early days of the outbreak was delayed by China, according to leaked World Health Organisation documents and recordings.

Mr Johnson, writing in The Times, has offered to allow 2.85 million Hong Kong citizens the chance of fully-fledged citizenship, which would make what he describes as one of the “biggest changes” to the British visa system in its history.

This new plan, which represents a dramatic escalation in the already tense relationship between the UK and China, would put Hong kong citizens “on the route to citizenship”, said the leader of the Conservative Party.

The National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial legislature, endorsed a security law for Hong Kong earlier this week that has strained relations between them and both the UK and the US.

The law will alter the territory’s independent ‘mini-constitution’, or Basic Law, that would require Hong Kong’s government to enforce measures, that would then be decided later by Chinese leaders, essentially removing the area’s autonomy from China.

Many critics say that this change in the law erodes the “one country, two systems” framework that promised Hong Kong to have access to freedoms not allowed in mainland China for a 50 year period starting on July the 1st 1997 when Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese rule from the United Kingdom.

Protesters in Hong Kong have taken to the streets to demonstrate, despite the social distancing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic still being in place.

Boris Johnson has said that the national security law would would “dramatically erode” Hong Kong’s autonomy and would breach the treaty between China and the UK.

If China chooses to go ahead with the national security law on the island, the Prime Minister has said that the UK government would effectively upgrade the status of British National (Overseas) passports to grant immigration rights beyond the current six-month limit; 350,000 people in Hong Kong hold these passports and 2.5 million are eligible to apply for them.

He said: “If China imposes its national security law, the British Government will change our immigration rules and allow any holder of these passports from Hong Kong to come to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months and be given further immigration rights, including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship.”

“This would amount to one of the biggest changes in our visa system in British history.”

Mr Johnson added:

“Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life, which China pledged to uphold, is under threat.”

“If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative.”

This comes after a new survey has suggested that the trust and confidence of the UK Government’s response to the pandemic have declined in the past six weeks.