It literally is called "British National (Overseas) passport" and they could become citizens: "BN(O)s may become British citizens by registration, rather than

It literally is called "British National (Overseas) passport" and they could become citizens: "BN(O)s may become British citizens by registration, rather than naturalisation, after residing in the United Kingdom for more than five years and possessing ILR for more than one year." (from the Wikipedia article) So it's not immediate citizenship in the UK, but it is path to citizenship. They couldn't just grant instant citizenship, because then people in HK would be British citizens in China as soon as the handover occurred. Naturally, China would not go for that. I think what they did was quite reasonable. > Right to apply means that only the wealthy get to leave Your cynicism with no evidence to back it up is not becoming. You did not seem to even know about the BNO program, yet you have certainty that it was administered inequally?