📡Guardians of Hong Kong
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We provide translation of news in English from local media and other sources, for academic use.
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#PoliticalSuppression #BNO
Hong Kong authorities tells 14 countries to stop accepting special British passport

Source: Reuters #Mar25

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29203
#PoliticalSuppression #BNO
Hong Kong authorities tells 14 countries to stop accepting special British passport

//The Hong Kong government on March 25, 2021 confirmed a Reuters report that it had told 14 countries to stop accepting a British travel document that many of its young people use to apply for working holiday visas in Europe, North America and parts of Asia...

“The Hong Kong government has no authority to dictate which passports foreign governments recognise as valid,” a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said when asked about the Reuters report.

“The UK will continue to issue British Nationals (Overseas) passports which remain valid travel documents.”

Almost 3 million Hong Kong residents hold or are eligible for the BNO document that was created ahead of Britain handing the city back to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong has also started to mirror mainland China by not recognising dual nationality, preventing for the first time foreign diplomats from visiting locals with foreign passports in detention...//

Read full article:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-security-passports-exclusive-idUSKBN2BH0PR

Source: Reuters #Mar25

#FailedState #Mainlandization #Passport #TravellingDocument
#UK Continues Issuing #BNO As Hong Kong Government Has No right to Dictate the Travel Document Validity to Foreign Countries

Source: Stand News #Mar26

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#UK Continues Issuing #BNO As Hong Kong Government Has No right to Dictate the Travel Document Validity to Foreign Countries

The Hong Kong government issued a letter to more than ten foreign embassies, reported by Reuter on March 25, 2021.

The letter stated that starting from Jan 31, 2021 the government does not recognize BNO as a valid travel document. The letter also demanded other embassies to stop accepting work holiday applications with BNO and advised that the HKSAR passport is the only acceptable document.

In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UK indicated that the HK SAR Government has no right to dictate whether a travel document is valid to foreign governments and that the UK government will continue issuing BNO as a legal travel document.

Reuters reported on Mar 25 that diplomats confirmed that a letter, witnessed by the reporter, was issued by the Hong Kong government to several embassies demanding the ban on work holiday application with BNO.

An anonymous diplomat opined, “the letter is going to be ignored by most countries… This is just the HK government’s wishful thinking. They have no rights to dictate what documents are accepted by foreign governments”. Another diplomat described the act as “bordering on belligerent”, which differs from its attitude in the past as an international financial center.

Source: Stand News #Mar26
https://bit.ly/3rt7bS0

#CCPRules #FailedState #Reuter #TravelDocument #Passport
Federal government confirms 'fast-tracking' of Hong Kong skilled visa applications

Senator James Paterson, the Chair of the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, confirmed the move to "fast track" applications, saying he has long been pressing to open migration avenues for Hong Kongers.

"The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Settlement Services, has decided to update the order of priority processing to support existing and future arrangements for the agriculture sector, while also providing consideration for Hong Kong and British National (Overseas) (BNO) passport holders," Senator Paterson told SBS Chinese.

"This means processing priority will be given to Hong Kong and BNO passport holders applying for temporary and permanent skilled visas ahead of other cohorts. 

Source: SBS #Jul30

https://t.co/1r8UOw0ZMJ

#HongKonger #Visa #BNO
#BNO
Beware of Chinese spies: British Government Urges Hongkongers to Apply Visa Online

Source: The Times #Aug17
Image: Stand News

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#BNO
Beware of Chinese spies: British Government Urges Hongkongers to Apply Visa Online

//The [British] government is urging Hongkongers to apply for Britain’s new visa scheme online because China is stationing agents outside application centres.

[British] Ministers have been given intelligence that [Chinese] undercover agents are spying on dissidents coming and going from two centres in Hong Kong.

It is feared that they are passing on names and photos of dissidents to the Chinese authorities in an attempt to block their departure. 

The Times revealed last week that Chinese spies were posing as dissidents in an attempt to enter Britain through its Hong Kong visa scheme.//

Image: Stand News
Source: The Times #Aug17

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/beware-of-chinese-spies-visa-applicants-told-thdz6g8hq

#ChineseSpy #VisaApplication #Doxxing #PoliticalSuppression #CCP
Pro-CCP organisation found in UK BNO policy Taskforce, triggering safety concerns for Hongkongers

#BNO #HongkongersInBritain #LOTR #immigration

Source: Stand News; #Aug18

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Pro-CCP organisation found in UK BNO policy Taskforce, triggering safety concerns for Hongkongers

British government's BNO policy consultation taskforce includes prominent members of the London China Town Chinese Association, says Hongkongers in Britain, a pro-democracy advocacy group for newcomers from Hong Kong.

The Chinese Association had pledged support to the implementation of National Security Law in Hong Kong, as well as having only the “patriots to rule Hong Kong.”

Hongkongers in Britain worried that involvement of pro-CCP organization members in these policies could cause safety concerns to Hong Kong people in the UK, many of whom had recently immigrated to the UK on their British Nationals Overseas (BNO) passports. The advocacy group urged the British government to prohibit those pro-CCP organizations from entering official BNO policy committees.

The London China Town Chinese Association, however, did not respond to media inquiry on this matter.

Hongkongers in Britain's website noted that Consultation Taskforce was formed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government to tackle BNO-related policies. The Taskforce does not have representatives from new Hong Kong immigrants, but does include members of the pro-CCP Chinese Association.

#BNO #HongkongersInBritain #LOTR #immigration
Source: Stand News; #Aug18

https://bit.ly/3Bpqi4H
#Hongkongers in Britain

//...the Hong Kongers are quite different from other immigrants, including other ethnic Chinese. Many have a distinct legal status and are socially atypical. They live in specific places, which they chose in a novel way. They have created distinctive self-help groups. In just a few months, they have begun to rewrite Britain’s immigrant story.

A survey by Hongkongers in Britain, a self-help group, however, found that the average age of Hong Kong residents intending to come to Britain was 37. More than two-thirds are university-educated, and the majority have children.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the Hong Kongers is the speed with which they have organised themselves. In little more than a year, several well-run groups have sprung up to help migrants settle in and to lobby on their behalf. They have conducted surveys, arranged housing, legal advice and English courses, organised walking tours, testified in Parliament and much more besides.

Sadly, this self-reliance is not a choice, but a necessity. Newly arrived Hong Kongers often fear recently established Chinese community groups that are aligned with the government in Beijing. Jabez Lam, a veteran organiser at the Hackney Chinese Community Service, says that most Hong Kongers who ask him for help will not give their names. They are right to worry about hostility from other Chinese people, he says. He was roughed up in Chinatown after defending pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Hong Kongers’ groups have two ambitions. First, they want migrants to integrate rapidly. Hence the English lessons, an enthusiasm for working with churches and gatherings like the one in Sutton, which brought Hong Kongers together with locals. “If Hong Kongers just get together with Hong Kongers, it doesn’t help—it’s another Chinatown,” explains Mr Choi. The groups stress that the migrants’ values, such as a belief in freedom and democracy, are also British ones.

Second, they want Hong Kongers to think of themselves as a community in exile. “Hong Kong is not only a place any more. It’s a diaspora, sharing values,” says Simon Cheng of Hongkongers in Britain. However comfortable and integrated they become, he thinks, Hong Kongers must remember why they had to flee. //

Read the full article:
https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/09/23/britains-newest-immigrant-group-is-unlike-any-that-came-before

Source: The Economist #Sept23

#Immigrant #BNO #Exile #Diaspora #MigrationWave #UK
Chinese spies pose as refugees in UK visa plot

Chinese spies are posing as refugees in an attempt to enter Britain through a resettlement scheme designed for Hongkongers, The Times can reveal.

Government sources have said they are aware of sleeper agents applying for British National (Overseas) visas under the pretence of seeking refuge from the totalitarian state.

“There are stringent background checks in place for the visa applications — and they’re in place for a reason,” government sources said. “The vetting process for the BNO visa scheme is much more thorough than any other.”

Source: The Times #Aug09

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chinese-spies-pose-as-refugees-in-uk-visa-plot-g0fdfv37v

#Chinese #UK #Visa #BNO
MPs calling it a "moral obligation" to extend UK’s settlement route for Hong Kong youngsters

#BNO #PoliceState #HKProtest #Asylum #UKSettlement

Source: Stand News (Photograph), The Independent; #Nov11

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MPs calling it a "moral obligation" to extend UK’s settlement route for Hong Kong youngsters

//An amendment to the Nationality and Borders Bill, tabled by Conservative MP Damian Green and supported by Tom Tugendhat and 11 other Tory MPs, would enable Hong Kongers with at least one parent who is a BNO citizen to apply for a UK visa.

It comes after The Independent revealed last month that Young Hong Kongers who fled police brutality are “languishing” in the UK asylum system because they are not able to benefit from the British National Overseas (BNO) scheme due to their age.

If the amendment were accepted, it would enable those born after 1997 to resettle in Britain on the basis of the BNO status of one or both of their parents, rather than having to travel with them.

Many of these young people may well have been involved in the protests and therefore some of them have already suffered from the new security law, and others may in the future

Home Office figures show there was an almost 500 per cent increase in asylum claims from Hong Kong nationals in the year to June 2021, rising to 124 from 21 the previous year. Fourteen of these were unaccompanied minors – the first time on record that the UK has received asylum claims from children from the city state. //

Read full article
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hong-kong-tories-bno-visa-home-office-b1955222.html

#BNO #PoliceState #HKProtest #Asylum #UKSettlement

Source: Stand News (Photograph), The Independent; #Nov11
Former District Councillors Participated in Demonstration in the UK

Oct 1 is the China National Day. More than 100 HKers gathered for an assembly at Piccadilly Gardens in #Manchester, #UK. Event organisers included former Tuen Mun #DistrictCouncillor (DC) Chris Tsang Chun-Hing and Former Wan Chai DC Clara Cheung. They both mentioned that #HKers should promote our local culture in the UK.

The event lasted for half an hour and was hosted by Abingo, Social Media Page #ManchesteHongKong administrator. Aged 30, he arrived UK half a year ago with a BN(O) visa. He explained that the assembly's theme is "#WeUnion", as the speakers combined with #valiant and #PRN, hoping that HKers would not be easily separated.

Former DC: Build the culture and identity from daily to arts

Chris Tang, former Tuen Mun DC, was one of the organisers. He arrived UK a few months ago with BN(O). He used "#MIRROR", a Hong Kong Cantopop boy group, as an example that there were cheering events in London which stated that HKers could export the culture in daily life in the UK. He also hoped to become a bridge between people in the UK and HKers, building up linkage with them and letting people in the UK to understand the Hong Kong situation.

Clara Cheung, Former Wan Chai DC, was also one of the organisers. She was previously an art curator and she actively integrated art into community while at the position. She indicated that the Hong Kong cultural sector was discussing how to bring Hong Kong cultural art to the world. And that "HKers are now scattered across the world". As long as we proactively create artworks, it will build HKers identity. She also believed that HKers should communicate with other exile people who have similar ideas and share cultural assets such as Cantopop, Hong Kong food as well as stories. Throughout the interaction, HKers can build their own culture.

Editor note: In the #AntiELAB movement in 2019, Hong Kong protesters are classified into 2 groups - "the valiant" and "the PRN". "Valiant" refers to people in the frontline who clash directly with the police. "PRN" means "peaceful, rational, nonviolent" people who support peaceful rallies and marches.

#ChinaNationalDay #SelfIdentity #HKculture #BNO

Source: Stand News, HKU #Oct02

https://bit.ly/3H0uL1l https://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/?p=71706