China Considers Banning U.K. Passport Holders From Office, SCMP Says

(Bloomberg) -- China is discussing whether to ban Hong Kong residents who hold special U.K. passports from public office, the South China Morning Post reported, in the latest measure planned to restrict dissent in Hong Kong.

The proposal is intended as retaliation against the U.K.’s decision last year to create a pathway to citizenship for the more than 1 million Hong Kong residents who hold British National (Overseas) passports, the newspaper said Thursday, citing people it didn’t identify. Chinese lawmakers were also mulling whether to deny BNO holders the right to vote in the former British colony, although the report said there was disagreement over such a step.

The U.K. will begin accepting citizenship applications for as many as 2.9 million BNO-eligible Hong Kong residents Jan. 31 -- a plan London announced after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in June. Both sides have accused each other of breaching commitments that paved the way for the city’s return to Chinese rule in 1997.

Representatives for the Hong Kong government didn’t immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment about the SCMP report.

Asked Tuesday about another proposal to punish BNO passport holders, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she was “not aware of certain options” and denied that the local government was discussing any such measures. But she added: “If someone has now unilaterally deviated from the consensus, it would be a matter of course for the other party to take some action.”

The British Passport Stoking Controversy in Hong Kong: QuickTake

The proposal is among a number of Hong Kong issues that local media say are slated for discussion at a closed-door meeting of China’s top legislative body next week in Beijing. The meeting coincides with President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in Washington, underscoring the challenges the new U.S. administration faces in pledging to protect democratic freedoms around the world.

On Thursday, Hong Kong authorities arrested 11 people on suspicion of helping activists flee to Taiwan, local broadcaster Cable TV reported, citing unidentified people.

The previously unscheduled meeting of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which starts Wednesday, has deepened concern that China is planning to further curtail dissent in the city. The People’s Daily newspaper, the main mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, earlier this week urged action to prevent Hong Kong elections from becoming a “tool for anti-China and trouble-making forces.”

Reports of new measures by Beijing targeting Hong Kong’s election process suggests a growing desire to reign in the opposition that it blames for historic and sometimes violent protests in 2019. Previously, the NPC Standing Committee ruled that Hong Kong’s government could expel lawmakers from the Legislative Council who were deemed insufficiently patriotic, a move that led to the mass resignation of the city’s remaining opposition.

Applications for BNO status are surging, with the U.K. granting more than 210,000 passports in the first 10 months of last year, according to U.K. Passport Office data. The U.K. estimates that as many as 322,000 BNO holders will move to the country by 2025, suggesting that most applicants want the documents as a hedge.

Under Hong Kong law, top politicians, such as the chief executive, chief justice and lawmakers representing geographical districts, must be not have right of abode in any foreign country. There are exceptions for some other public offices and foreign passport holders are allowed to be civil servants, including police officers.