UK defends Hong Kong passport rights in opposition to China

Britain rejected the authority of the Hong Kong authorities to find out the validity of particular passports provided to Hong Kong residents, a spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office stated on Friday.
China and the pro-Beijing Hong Kong authorities on Thursday advised 14 international locations to cease accepting the British National (Overseas) passports (BNO) which were made obtainable to residents of Hong Kong consistent with the 1997 handover settlement.
“The Hong Kong government has no authority to dictate which passports foreign governments recognize as valid,” the British Foreign Office stated. “The UK will continue to issue British Nationals (Overseas) passports which remain valid travel documents.”
UK and China in tit-for-tat
The spat over passports is the newest in a back-and-forth row between China and the UK.
Britain upgraded the rights related to BNO passports from easy touring privileges to a gateway to British citizenship after Beijing imposed a sweeping nationwide safety legislation on the island final 12 months.
In response, each Beijing and Hong Kong stated they’d now not settle for the BNO as a legitimate journey doc.
Thursday’s request to different international locations to cease accepting BNO passports follows a collection of sanctions imposed by the UK, EU, US and Canada in opposition to China over its remedy of the Uyghur Muslim minority.
A diplomat in Hong Kong advised AFP that the request to invalidate BNO passports overseas was unlikely to achieve success as the federal government had no approach to implement it.
While Hong Kong residents might now not enter China with their BNO passports, most even have Hong Kong passports which they’ll use to depart Hong Kong.