China threatens to trap up to 3 million people in Hong Kong by no longer recognizing their UK overseas passports

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• China is threatening to no longer recognize the British passports held by many Hong Kong citizens, a relic of its status as a British colony until 1997.
• Boris Johnson's government has offered all Hong Kong citizens the chance to live and work in the UK, after Beijing imposed a draconian new security law on the region.
• China's ambassador to the UK on Thursday warned that Beijing would take steps to invalidate British national (overseas) passports, potentially trapping up to three million people in Hong Kong.
• Liu Xiaoming said: "If you do not want to be a partner and our friend, and you want to treat China as a hostile power, you will pay the price."
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China is threatening to stop recognizing the British passports held by millions of Hong Kongers, creating the prospect of up to three million people being banned from leaving the region.

Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK, on Thursday issued the threat in the latest escalation of a dispute between London and Beijing which began when China imposed a draconian security law on Hong Kong, a former British colony.

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