The spokesperson of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the HKSAR strongly condemned and firmly rejected the BNO scheme extension announced by the UK government on 24 February, which grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs and Hong Kong affairs, and seriously violated international law and basic norms governing international relations.

The spokesperson pointed out that “the person without credibility cannot be a real man, and the country short of integrity has no prestige”. By repudiating the Sino-British Joint Declaration and relevant agreements in memorandums exchanged between China and the UK and disregarding China’s firm opposition and solemn counter-measures, the British side played with the BNO issue time and again under the pretext of the national security law, and openly provided shelters for anti-China forces in Hong Kong, laying out in plain sight its hypocrisy and motive to make a mess of Hong Kong. The UK broke its own promises with the trick of a thief crying “stop thief”. How can such an unjustified action be supported by the people and the international community?

The spokesperson said that thanks to the National Security Law for the HKSAR and the new electoral system, Hong Kong is entering a new historical stage of transition from chaos to stability and prosperity. With the strong backing of the motherland, Hong Kong’s future is promising. It has been reported by a number of media outlets that some Hong Kong people suffered discrimination and livelihood difficulties in the UK and fell into the “immigration trap”. The false-flag scheme of the British side cannot deceive the Hong Kong people or undermine the unity and stability in the SAR, nor can it stop the sustained implementation of “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong. We urge the British side to recognize the historical trend, abandon colonial nostalgia in Hong Kong, correct wrongdoings and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any form, otherwise it will bear the consequences.