Thousands of Hong Kong citizens sign up for new UK visa
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists
Almost 5,000 Hong Kong citizens have applied for a British visaafter Beijing's imposition of the national security law in the Asian financial hub last year.
London made changes to its visa rules to give millions ofHongKongresidents a chance to settle in Britain after China imposed a new security law that democracy activists say will end the freedoms promised to the territory in 1997.
Under the rules,HongKongresidents who hold a British National Overseas (BNO) passport will be allowed to live in the United Kingdom for five years and then apply for "settled status" and citizenship.
Some 5.4 millionHongkongers could ultimately be eligible for British citizenship under the scheme.
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Those people had already been offered a temporary settlement in the United Kingdom after fleeing China's security crackdown while waiting for the visa change.
Britain and China have been arguing for months about what London and Washington say is an attempt to silence dissent inHongKongafter pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020.
The British flag was lowered overHongKongwhen the colony was handed back to China in 1997 after more than 150 years of British rule - imposed after Britain defeated China in the First Opium War.
HongKong's autonomy was guaranteed under the "one country, two systems" agreement enshrined in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration signed by then Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
China says Britain's views onHongKongare clouded by an imperial hangover and that the territory needs the national security law to counter damaging unrest.
China andHongKonghave said they will no longer recognise the BNO passport as a valid travel document from Jan. 31. BNO status was created by Britain in 1987 specifically forHongKongresidents.
The British government has forecast the new visa could attract more than 300,000 people and their dependants to Britain. Beijing said it would make them second-class citizens.