A warm(ish) welcome

摘要

ON JUNE 3RD Hong Kongers woke to an article by Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson in the South China Morning Post. It carried a threat to Beijing: if China imposed its national-security law, tightening its grip on the city, Britain would change its immigration rules. British Nationals (Overseas) (BNOS), a category created for those born in the British colony before it was returned to China in 1997, would gain additional rights, including one to work, "which could place them on a route to citizenship". The Home Office has said the offer would extend not just to the 350,000 holders of BNO passports, but to all 2.9m who qualify for one. According to Mr Johnson, "This would amount to one of the biggest changes to our visa system in history.".