South China Morning Post’s article by Ambrose Leung has indeed misrepresented BritishHongKong by solely emphasising one of the aims, which is dangerously misleading to the general public in Hong Kong. It is indeed tremendously clear that the core aim of the organisation is “fighting for both full British and European Citizenship”, rather than “educating BN(O) passport holders to be proud British.” Such misrepresentation of BritishHongKong has to be pointed out.

Furthermore, BritishHongKong has never had any formal interview with SCMP and Mr Sham has stated that, at an informal meeting, he has never said to Mr Leung, that “Everyone has a deep desire to be proud British citizens. Full British citizenship should be given to all BN(O) passport holders so that they too can have the same rights,” We are indeed disappointed at the lack of professionalism of Mr. Leung in this article, and do request him to publicly acknowledge this mistake.

I, on behalf of BritishHongKong, sincerely hope that he would refer to HKEJ’s recent article on BritishHongKong, which is far better in terms of presenting the work of the human rights organisation.

Mr. Robin Tso

Founder

BritishHongKong

South China Morning Post
EDT3 |  EDT |  By Ambrose Leung      2009-03-21

Interest in BN(O)passportsdeclines

Number of people issued UK papers on the wane
Interest in British passports has been steadily dropping since 2001, with the number issued – including for British National (Overseas) passports – a 17th of the number of people who applied for Hong Kong SAR passports.

While saying the drop reflected people’s confidence in Hong Kong, the British consulate said it would consider suggestions to renew a publicity exercise reminding the 3.5 million eligible Hongkongers that they could get their BN(O) passports at any time.

According to figures provided by the consulate, the total number of British passports, including BN(O) passports, it has issued has steadily dropped, from 189,457 in 2001 to 29,640 last year. A total of 67,361 British passports were issued in 1998, following the handover.
Against the declining interest in British passports, demand for SAR passports has remained strong, with a steady increase since 2004.

In the five months after the handover, the Immigration Department recorded about 446,000 SAR passport applications. This increased to 633,000 in 2004 after Japan granted visa-free entry for holders.

Last year, 504,000 people applied for SAR passports – which was 17 times more than the number of passports issued by the British consulate in the same period.
At present, 137 countries offer visa-free travel for SAR passport holders. A 32-page passport, valid for a decade, costs HK$320. In contrast, BN(O) passport-holders have visa-free travel to 120 countries. The 32-page document costs HK$1,370.

A spokesman for the British consulate said that BN(O) passports – which were offered to Hongkongers before the handover as travel documents but without the right of abode in Britain – reflected his nation’s “commitment” to the people of Hong Kong.

“The number of BN(O) passport renewals has declined over the last few years. We believe that this reflects mainly the success of the handover arrangements almost 12 years on, and the faith of Hong Kong people in Hong Kong and its future,” the spokesman said.

Legco security panel chairman Lau Kong-wah, deputy chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said people preferred SAR rather than BN(O) passports because of national pride. “Everybody feels that once you have a SAR passport, you get the protection by our great nation when travelling overseas,” he said, citing efforts by the Chinese embassy in Thailand to help Hongkongers stranded by the tsunami in 2004.

But lobby group British Hong Kong has been running a campaign to “educate” BN(O) passport holders about “what it means to be proud British”.

“Everyone has a deep desire to be proud British citizens. Full British citizenship should be given to all BN(O) passport holders so that they too can have the same rights,” the group’s Hong Kong representative, Noble Sham, said.

The Scotland-based group, which has members in Hong Kong, is petitioning for BN(O) passport holders to receive the right of abode in Britain.