As of January 31, China and Hong Kong will no longer recognize the validity of British National Overseas (BNO) passports issued by the British government.
This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,.
London had set the date for the entry into force of new laws to allow holders of such a document to obtain residency and citizenship of England. The next day, Hong Kong’s justice secretary, Teresa Cheng, reminded London that it no longer had any claim on the city.
Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian specified that BNO passports would not be recognized as valid documents either for proving identity or for travel, and that China would reserve the right to take further measures in this regard. Zhao said that by formulating a “tailor-made” route to obtain UK residency and British citizenship for Hong Kong nationals who have BNO passports, London would not take China’s position in this regard into consideration, breaking promises made and ignoring that Hong Kong has been returned to China for 24 years.
by Basit Abbasi – CCTV
