The Chinese regime is trying to send spies to the UK by abusing a special visa plan designed to help Hongkongers flee the increasingly harsh suppression of freedoms in the former British colony, a British newspaper reported on Aug. 9.
“There are stringent background checks in place for the visa applications—and they’re in place for a reason,” the government sources were quoted as saying. “The vetting process for the BN(O) visa scheme is much more thorough than any other.”
Benedict Rogers, chief executive of the non-governmental organization Hong Kong Watch and a co-founder of the UK Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission, said the revelation was “totally outrageous.”
A Home Office spokesperson emailed a statement to The Epoch Times in reaction to the report.
“The BN(O) visa route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status. It is an unprecedented and generous offer reflecting our deep connection with Hong Kong,” the spokesperson said.
“There are safeguards in place throughout the application process to ensure it is free from abuse and helps those most in need.”
The Epoch Times also asked the Home Office to either confirm or deny the allegations cited in The Times of London’s report, but didn’t receive a response by press time.
The plan, which was launched in January, allows BN(O) status holders to live, study, and work in the UK for five years and eventually apply for citizenship.
Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, told The Times of London that he believed the BN(O) visa plan was “the right response” to the imposition of the national security law.
But he said the UK should “get real” about the risk of the Chinese regime abusing the plan to plant spies in Britain, as it’s “a totalitarian state which uses informers.”
