China’s Nationality Law Is a Cage for Hong Kongers

Defaced photocopies of British National Overseas passports are displayed by pro-Beijing activists as they gather outside the British Consulate General to protest against the use of BNO passports in Hong Kong on Feb. 1. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

On Jan. 29, China declared that it would stop recognizing the British National Overseas (BNO) passport—a travel document held by more than 350,000 people in Hong Kong.

The colonial-era passport, once thought to be a relic of the 1997 Hong Kong handover, is the latest battleground between China and the United Kingdom. After Beijing imposed a controversial national security law in Hong Kong last year, the U.K. established a visa scheme that would allow the city’s BNO passport holders to become British citizens. Around 5.4 million of 7.5 million Hong Kong residents are eligible to apply.