Britain begins a citizenship program for Hong Kong residents
Britain is offering new visas to Hong Kong citizens from Sunday, giving them the opportunity to obtain British citizenship, after China imposed last year a new security law in the city, which is an Asian financial center.
The measure comes after China and the Hong Kong government announced that they would not recognize a British passport "citizenship abroad (BNO)", a valid travel document, from Sunday.
Britain says it is fulfilling a historic and moral obligation to the people of Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a security law on the semi-autonomous city, which Britain says violated the terms of the agreements under which it returned the city to Chinese rule in 1997.
The British government expects the new visa to attract more than 300,000 people to Britain, while Beijing says it will make them second-class citizens.
The program, which was first unveiled last year, will allow you to reside, study and work in Britain for five years and finally apply for citizenship.
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