During the process of negotiating the handover (or return) of Hongkong to China in 1997, the late Paddy Ashdown advocated for the people of Hong Kong to be given the right of abode in the UK if China were to renege on promises made in the Sino-British Declaration of 1984. The British Nationals (Overseas) passports were issued in 1987 to HK residents to replace the British Dependent Territories passports and almost 3 million HK residents were entitled to hold these passports.
Fast forward June 2020, after years of protests following the so-called Umbrella Revolution which started in 2014, China has introduced sweeping National Securities legislation as an annex to the Basic Law introducing 4 new security crimes with extra-territorial reach.

This has led to the UK government offering BNO passport holders the right to settle in the UK as from January this year as well as funding a welcome package for HKers amounting to £43million to be accessible through local authority services in England, Scotland and Wales. It has been reported that as of April approximately 34,000 BNO passport holders have applied to the UK under the new visa scheme with pathway to citizenship after 5 years of residency.