Opinion | For Hongkongers fearing for their way of life, Britain will provide an alternative
- UK is prepared to change its immigration rules if Beijing imposes its national security law on Hong Kong
- ‘It is precisely because we welcome China as a leading member of the world community that we expect it to abide by international agreements’
There is something wonderful about the fact that a small island in the Pearl River Delta rose to become a great trading city and commercial powerhouse of East Asia. Wonderful, but not accidental or fortuitous.
Hong Kong succeeds because its people are free. They can pursue their dreams and scale as many heights as their talents allow. They can debate and share new ideas, expressing themselves as they wish. And they live under the rule of law, administered by independent courts.
With their abilities thus released, Hong Kong’s people have shown they can achieve almost anything. They have prospered hand in hand with China’s economic renaissance; today their home is one of the richest cities in the world and hundreds of mainland companies have chosen to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
So China has a greater interest than anyone else in preserving Hong Kong’s success. Since the handover in 1997, the key has been the precious concept of “one country, two systems”, enshrined in Hong Kong’s Basic Law and underpinned by the Joint Declaration signed by Britain and China.
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Hongkongers with BN(O) passports could be eligible for UK citizenship if China imposes security law
This guarantees Hong Kong’s “high degree of autonomy” with only limited exceptions such as foreign affairs, defence or in a state of emergency. The declaration adds: “The current social and economic systems in Hong Kong will remain unchanged, and so will the life style” including essential “rights and freedoms”.
