Local residents take photos of Chinese national flags and flags of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Friday, ahead of July 1 which marks the 26th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. Photo:VCG

Facts have fully proven that what the UK has done is a far cry from "protecting" the people of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), but is aimed at smearing and disrupting Hong Kong, said a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the UK after the UK announced that it is introducing a new Priority Visa service for the Hong Kong BN(O) route.

On Monday, the UK Home Office announced that it is introducing a new Priority Visa service for Hong Kong residents who plan to move to the UK with British National (Overseas) visas. The service is said to show "unwavering commitment to the people of Hong Kong."

China has all along been opposed to the UK's manipulation of the BNO visa scheme, which interferes in Hong Kong-related affairs and China's internal affairs, a spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in the UK said when asked about the service on Tuesday night. 

The BN(O) immigration route was announced in July 2020 and allows visa holders to apply for UK citizenship after six years' living in the UK. However, in May, Consul General Brian Davidson said he could not promise the scheme would extend beyond the next UK general election, which will be held no later than January 2025, local media reported.

Facts have fully proven that what the UK has done is a far cry from "protecting" the people of Hong Kong, but is aimed at smearing and disrupting Hong Kong, said the Embassy spokesperson. 

The spokesperson pointed out that some deluded people left their home in Hong Kong and came to the UK only to find themselves facing a hard life full of discrimination. "There are a large number of such cases around," said the spokesperson.

Some media reports said that after some Hong Kong residents moved to the UK, they have had a difficult life. There have even been some reports of suicide.

The tragic death of a 27-year-old Hong Kong master's graduate, which was ruled suicide by a coroner, shows the difficulties of moving to live in the UK, Hong Kong media outlets reported in January 2023. Fion Ho Yee-king's death came after seven months of hardship, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, a migrant in London was quoted as saying in the report.

According to a BBC report in 2022, many Hongkongers moving to the UK had to give up their original careers and work hard to make ends meet. 

Charlotte, 46, worked as a financial reporter and public relations manager in Hong Kong before moving to the UK with her family in April 2021, where she only managed to work at an upmarket department store chain. It's been a "huge gap," she said.

Mok, who worked in marketing in Hong Kong, could only work as a cashier or receptionist when she arrived in the UK, while her husband, who used to be a photojournalist, first took English lessons in the hope of becoming a delivery driver.

The Embassy spokesperson warned that the UK's attempts to smear and disrupt Hong Kong by such means will never succeed. 

"We urge the UK to get a clear understanding of the reality and the larger trend, stop staging its hypocritical shows, stop misleading people from Hong Kong and stop interfering in China's internal affairs," said the spokesperson. 

The Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong and the Chinese Embassy in the UK have repeatedly slammed the UK side over the issue, saying that playing the card of the BN(O) scheme is a shameful act.

China officially withdrew its recognition of BN(O) visas as a valid travel and ID document starting from January 31, 2021, as the UK began accepting applications from BN(O)-eligible Hong Kong residents starting the same day.

Ignoring China's firm opposition and countermeasures, the UK side has been manipulating the BN(O) matter using the excuse of the National Security Law (NSL) for Hong Kong, blatantly violating relevant agreements between China and the UK and providing protection for anti-China rioters, a spokesperson for the office said in February, after the UK Home Office said that some 144,500 Hongkongers have received BN(O) visas since the route opened. 

The applicants leave Hong Kong for various reasons, such as career advancement, family reunion and settlement, further studies and retirement. Of course, some are also those who participated in and supported the anti-government protests in Hong Kong, Chu Ka Krin, a veteran current affairs commentator based in Hong Kong, told the Global Times in an earlier interview. 

"The applicants may still maintain close ties and proximity with Hong Kong, and it does not mean those who leave Hong Kong are abandoning it or that they will never return to their homeland," Chu said. "The BN(O) is just a tentative grant to stay in UK and it does not mean right of abode or citizenship."

Global Times