Beijing: China has stated that it will no longer recognize the British National Overseas Passport as a valid travel document or identity card. China’s statement comes amid rising tensions between the two countries following the UK’s plan to grant citizenship to millions of people in Hong Kong.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the announcement on Friday. He made the announcement just hours after the UK announced that it would start accepting applications for BNO visas from Sunday. Under the scheme, 5.4 million Hong Kongers will be eligible to live and work in the UK for the next five years, after which they can apply for citizenship.
The UK did so after granting citizenship to the people of Hong Kong
Significantly, there were protests for several months in Hong Kong, a British colony, demanding democracy, after which China implemented new national security laws there. It was only after this that the UK talked about a plan to grant citizenship to the people of Hong Kong.
