What does bno mean (a brief analysis of what a BNO passport is)

The United Kingdom announced that new regulations for the British National (Overseas) Passport (BNO Passport) will take effect on January 31. Holders of the British National (Overseas) Passport (BNO Passport) can apply for a visa to enter the United Kingdom and apply for permanent residence status after five years.

In tit-for-tat, China announced that it would no longer recognize the validity of the passport starting from January 31, and holders would no longer be able to pass through China’s border ports with this passport.

What is this troublesome BNO passport? How did the UK cause trouble through it?

This starts from before Hong Kong’s return to the motherland. Before Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Hong Kong residents held British overseas territory citizen passports. Holders of this passport could receive British consular protection elsewhere, but they still required a visa to enter the UK.

To use a term that everyone is familiar with, the holder is equivalent to a second-class British citizen.

In the movie "Floating Tycoon" starring Aaron Kwok, a British customs official made a bitter satire on this second-class citizen passport.

He is nominally a British citizen, but actually has no nationality.

In 1984, China and Britain signed a joint declaration confirming that Hong Kong would return to the motherland on January 1, 1997. According to the principles of the Joint Declaration, after the return of Hong Kong, Hong Kong residents will obtain the nationality of the People's Republic of China, and the passports of second-class citizens will automatically become invalid.

Of course, at this time, Hong Kong had been occupied by the British for 142 years. There were also people from India, Vietnam and other places. Some people wanted to retain their ties with the United Kingdom, so the British government gave Hong Kong, which was about to return, a number of A new passport was custom-made.

This kind of passport is the BNO passport that is causing trouble today, the full name is British National Overseas, British National (Overseas). According to the official website of the British government, holders of this passport can obtain British consular protection overseas, and can also go to some British overseas territories without a visa. However, entry into the UK can only be visa-free for half a year, and you still need to apply for more than that.

In addition, the British government official website specifically emphasizes that holders of this passport do not automatically have the right to reside or work in the UK, and are not recognized by the EU.

Objectively speaking, this can indeed prevent Hong Kong residents from becoming stateless, and can also provide Hong Kong residents with more convenience when traveling. Therefore, perhaps out of consideration for the convenience of Hong Kong residents, the Chinese government did not block the road during the negotiations on Hong Kong's return. The two sides exchanged memorandums on this. The British side clearly promised not to grant the right of abode in the UK to Hong Kong Chinese citizens holding BNO passports. The Chinese government It is not recognized as a travel document. It is useless to use this passport to come to the mainland of the motherland, and there is no need to apply for British consular protection in the mainland of the motherland.

In other words, Hong Kong citizens holding BNO passports are still Chinese citizens and not British citizens. This is something that cannot be denied in black and white. In fact, there is a line on the BNO passport indicating that the passport holder has an identity card of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the number is.

Starting from July 1, 1987, BNO passport applications will be open to Hong Kong residents, but will no longer be accepted from July 1, 1997. Originally, this matter would have ended here. This kind of passport was originally a transitional arrangement for a generation and would slowly disappear into history. However, when the chaos in Hong Kong supported by Western forces broke out in 2019, some people in the UK began to use this to cause trouble.

On July 22, the British government announced new visa regulations, announcing that from 2021, Hong Kong residents holding BNO passports can apply for special visas to reside in the UK, and can also bring immediate family members, including in July 1997 Children born after 1 day. In October, the British side stated that it would open the channel from January 30, 2021, specifically allowing BNO passport holders to apply for a British visa through special channels, and apply for permanent residence after five years of residence. This actually violates the memorandum of exchange between China and Britain, so China stated at the time that it might consider not recognizing the validity of the passport, and now it has done so.

So in Hong Kong today, this BNO passport is just a piece of waste paper.

What needs to be pointed out in particular is that the leaders of the Hong Kong chaos elements, Joshua Wong, Luo Guancong, Zhou Ting and others,