China is threatening countermeasures if Britain goes ahead with its plans to offer citizenship to around three million Hongkongers, following China's imposition of strict security regulations on the former British province.
A report in The Telegraph notes that Australia and Taiwan are also considering offering Hongkongers various forms of safe haven, and that a United States bill offering sanctuary to Hong Kong residents has received widespread bipartisan support.
China has already begun making arrests based on the new regulations, and the UK has stated that the passage of the new regulations breaches its "One Country, Two Systems" agreement with China, made ahead of the 1997 handover and supposed to remain in force until 2047.