UK PM Boris Johnson said China’s imposition of a security law on Hong Kong violated Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and jeopardized the freedoms and rights protected by the 1984 Joint Declaration, Reuters reported.

“The enactment and imposition of this national security law constitute a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. It violates Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and is in direct conflict with Hong Kong’s basic law. The law also threatens the freedoms and rights protected by the joint declaration,” the PM told parliament. 

“We made clear ... that if China continued down this path we would introduce a new route for those with British National Overseas Status to enter the UK, granting them limited leave to remain, with the ability to live and work in the UK and thereafter to apply for citizenship and that is precisely what we will do now.”