State Council office strongly condemns BNO passport policy

The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council on Sunday strongly condemned the United Kingdoms' latest policy that will enable British National Overseas passport holders in Hong Kong to move and settle down in the UK, starting on Sunday.

The office said in a statement that the UK's move is trying to turn a large number of Hong Kong people into its "second-class citizens", which is a blatant affront to China's sovereignty.

The statement pointed out that before the handover of Hong Kong, China and the UK had exchanged memoranda on the issue of the passports and the British side had explicitly promised not to grant Hong Kong residents holding these passports the right to live in the UK.

Since last year, the UK has tried its best to obstruct the enactment of the national security law for Hong Kong, violating the basic norms of international relations. After such attempts failed, the country has begun to scheme on the passports issue, the statement said, adding that such a move seriously violated the Sino-British Joint Declaration and breached the agreement.

The British side failed to abide by its promise and claimed that it was to respect the "historical ties and friendship" with Hong Kong, which glorified its history of aggression and colonial rule, the statement said.

"This is a brazen and brigandish logic that seriously hurts the feelings of the Chinese people. We reserve the right to take further counter-measures," it said.

The National Security Law for Hong Kong has set things right and has given a strong impetus to putting Hong Kong back on the right track, it said.

The Chinese government's determination to fully and accurately implement the "one country, two systems" principle and to resolutely enforce the national security law is unshakeable, it said, adding that the British side should not make the wrong decision.