Britain has for the primary time persuaded all G7 industrialised nations together with Japan to signal an announcement expressing deep concern about China’s plans to impose new safety legal guidelines in Hong Kong.

The Chinese language authorities is because of take the subsequent steps to introduce the legal guidelines imminently.

The G7 assertion got here as UK overseas workplace ministers signalled for the primary time that they could use new UK human rights legal guidelines to sanction Chinese language officers if Beijing presses forward with the Hong Kong laws.

The UK legislation, which might introduce Magnitsky-style sanctions, has been delayed inside Whitehall for months, however ministers have given their strongest indication but that the legal guidelines are more likely to apply in circumstances of repression corresponding to in Hong Kong. The Magnitsky Act authorises the US authorities to sanction those that it sees as human rights offenders.

The textual content of the primary G7 assertion on Hong Kong doesn’t itself break new floor, however urges the Chinese language authorities to rethink its plans, recognising that the proposed laws is in breach of Hong Kong’s Basic Law and worldwide legislation.

Japan, which has ambivalent relations with China, has beforehand backed off signing a joint assertion on Hong Kong, however there was a change of coronary heart in Tokyo over the previous week, partly prompted by a rising Japanese notion of the technological menace to Japanese safety posed by China.

Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, mentioned final week the G7 bears the accountability to guide international opinion. He added that “Japan needs to take the lead in releasing an announcement inside the G7 [framework] about Hong Kong affairs primarily based on the precept of ‘one nation, two programs’.”

China mentioned it had issued a protest to Japan over Abe’s remarks.

“China has expressed grave considerations to the Japanese facet,” Chinese language overseas ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying advised a information convention in Beijing. Hua reiterated China’s stance that the safety legal guidelines are an inner matter, some extent China has repeatedly made to the UK.

In a bid to crank up the pressure on the Chinese language authorities earlier than it proclaims its proposed safety legal guidelines, the UK dwelling secretary, Priti Patel, wrote to the prime minister, Boris Johnson, giving additional particulars of how Hong Kong British Nationwide Abroad or BN(O) passport holders, could be given new rights to come back to the UK. The provide would apply to each current BN(O) passport holders, but additionally the two.2 million eligible to use.

In addition to proposing a transparent pathway to citizenship within the letter to Johnson on 12 June, Patel supplied to vary the principles, if the legislation was handed, to permit BN(O) passport holders to enter whereas the scheme was being arrange, even when they expressed an intention to remain for greater than six months.

BN(O) holders and their dependants, which Patel prompt ought to embrace a partner or associate and kids beneath 18, would be capable of apply for citizenship after 5 years and would have the precise to work or research throughout that point.

The numbers of Hong Kong residents keen to go away town if new safety legal guidelines are enforced stays to be examined, and Britain isn’t planning to supply asylum to younger Hong Kong residents on the coronary heart of the democracy motion as a result of solely these born earlier than 1997 are eligible for BN(O) passports.