It’s a scary time to be alive.
A deadly virus is spreading all over the world.
Violent protests have erupted in the US and Hong Kong.
Bubble tea shops have closed in Singapore.
Donald Trump may not be sympathetic to American protestors, and bubble tea addicts in Singapore will still have to go without their beloved drink, but Hong Kongers might have a glimmer of hope.
UK Offering Visas & Possibly Citizenship to Hong Kong Citizens if China Persist with New Security Law
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has offered Hong Kongers a lifeline if China persists with its national security law: visas and a possible route to UK citizenship.
On Thursday (28 May), China passed new legislation meant to put an end to protests against the Chinese government.
Many Hong Kongers fear that their freedoms and autonomy will be taken away if China imposes its new law.
According to CNA, in addition to the 350,000 Hong Kongers who currently hold British National (Overseas) passports, another 2.5 million people would now be eligible to apply for one.
This allows visa-free access to Britain for up to six months.
“If China imposes its national security law, the British government will change our immigration rules and allow any holder of these passports from Hong Kong to come to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months and be given further immigration rights, including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship,” Johnson wrote.
So, what is this new security law all about and why are Hong Kongoers afraid of it?
A Brief History
To understand this law, we’ll need a brief history lesson.
Hong Kong was handed back to China from British control in 1997, but it did not have complete control of the country.
There was an agreement that there’d be a “one country, two systems” principle in place.
This agreement granted Hong Kong autonomy and other democratic rights, such as freedom of assembly and speech and an independent judiciary, things China doesn’t have, according to the BBC.
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Under this agreement, Hong Kong was supposed to enact its own National Security Law. They tried in 2003, but decided against it after protests erupted.
Then, in 2019, another wave of protests broke out over an extradition law, and that turned into a larger pro-democracy movement.
As you may remember, these protests went on for a long time, and often turned violent.
China wasn’t a big fan of these protests of course, because of the whole anti-China thing, so they don’t want it to happen again.
Which brings us to this new law.
National Security Law: Goodbye Freedom
This new law, if imposed, will give China the power to establish a formal police presence in Hong Kong, suppress free speech and the right to protest, and even slap violators with long jail sentences.
This could also threaten Hong Kong’s democracy, which would be a violation of the “one country, two systems” agreement.
Critics have called it the “end of Hong Kong”, according to Business Insider.
Protestors have taken to the streets in response and several nations, including the UK, have condemned the move.
That’s why Johson is offering a way out for many Hong Kongers, saying the new law would “curtail its freedoms and dramatically erode its autonomy”.
“Britain would then have no choice but to uphold our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong” he wrote.
Johnson added that the UK does not seek to “prevent China’s rise”, but hopes that the two countries can work together to make the “one country, two systems”, principle work.
Only time will tell if that happens.
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