China lashes out at UK expansion of visa scheme following Jimmy Lai conviction
Jimmy Lai’s son, Sebastian Lai, speaks at a press conference outside Downing Street in London on September 15, 2025.
Henry Nicholls | Afp | Getty Images
China’s embassy in London on Tuesday criticized Britain’s decision to expand its visa program for Hong Kong residents, describing the move as interference in internal affairs after a court sentenced pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison under the national security law.
England on Monday extended On Monday, the British National Overseas (BNO) visa scheme was introduced, which will allow children of BNO status holders who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s handover to mainland China in June 1997 to apply for the route independently of their parents.
“BNO misled Hong Kong residents into leaving their homes to face discrimination and hardship in the UK and live as second-class citizens,” an embassy spokesman said. a statement Translated from Chinese by CNBC.
The embassy described the expansion of the scheme as “despicable” and “reprehensible”.
“China has always resolutely opposed UK interference and manipulation of China’s internal affairs,” the embassy spokesman said. he said.
The plan was launched in 2021 after Beijing imposed sweeping national security law on Hong Kong. Since then more than 230,000 people have been granted visas and around 170,000 have moved to the UK.
Diplomatic tensions come after Lai was sentenced by a Hong Kong court on Monday in one of the city’s most important cases. This was the harshest sentence ever imposed under the national security law.
The 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper was an outspoken critic of Beijing and was among the first prominent figures to be arrested in August 2020. He was imprisoned on charges of colluding with foreign powers and publishing seditious materials. Lai has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Beijing last month and called for the release of British citizen Lai. Critics and Lai’s family argued that Britain had not taken sufficient and concrete steps to reverse the tide.
The British government said in a statement that the sentence showed how the national security law implemented by Beijing “criminalises dissent and causes many people to flee the region”, adding that it would “take swift action”. [with Beijing] “We will continue Mr. Lai’s case.”
The expanded visa route comes amid what the British government describes as a “deterioration of rights and freedoms” in Hong Kong. The government estimates 26,000 people will come to the UK in the next 5 years.
John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said Tuesday that Lai deserves harsh punishment for all the harm he has done, including “using Apple Daily to poison the minds of citizens” and “colluding with foreign powers to impose sanctions and hostile actions against China and Hong Kong.”
Following the decision, other governments renewed their calls for Lai’s release. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio He called the decision “unfair and tragic” and called on authorities to grant Lai humanitarian parole.
