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British musician Winston Marshall is co-founder of Hong Kong Link Up, a non-profit organization that aims to pair Hongkongers with local Brits, according to the project’s website.

“Meaningful community integration can take years, sometimes generations,” the site reads. “It doesn’t have to be so. Let’s welcome our new neighbours, bring them into our friend groups, make them feel right at home.”

Hong Kong Link Up is also the work of Jim Wong, a protester who was beaten by police during the Prince Edward Station attacks on Aug. 31, 2019, and announced last summer that he is seeking asylum in the UK.

The UK “buddies” will help Hongkongers with the administrative paperwork that comes with moving to a new country, such as setting up a bank account and registering at a hospital, the organization’s website states.

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Operation Document Park will allow Hong Kong lawyers to quietly store their “life documents,” such as birth or marriage certificates or proof of education, in Canada in case they have to leave Hong Kong in a hurry. These are the types of documents required by Canada’s department of Immigration and Citizenship if people wish to immigrate or seek asylum here.

Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland is spearheading this effort. He said the national security law China imposed on Hong Kong last summer is evidence the Chinese Communist Party plans to convert the former British colony’s legal system to something that better suits its purposes. This law was ostensibly to target secession, subversion and terrorism, but it contains vaguely defined offences that critics say effectively criminalize dissent and opposition.

Mr. Kurland said he plans to expand the document service to cover all Hong Kongers, and not just lawyers, after this smaller-scale initiative gets up and running.

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He said eight Canadian lawyers have so far signed up to help Operation Document Park. He has created a website where Hong Kongers and their lawyers can begin the process of creating a cache of necessary documents in Canada at no cost. The site is designed to connect Hong Kong lawyers with Canadian legal assistance.

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The prime minister's official spokesman said: "We have been clear that we will not look the other way when it comes to Hong Kong people with British National (Overseas) status who now have a choice to come and live and work and study in the UK.

"And it remains the case that BNOs and their families can use documentation other than BNO passports to travel and enter the UK."

A UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said they were "disappointed but not surprised" by China's decision not to recognise BNO passports.

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But many BNOs also hold Hong Kong passports and anyway, they don't need a BNO passport to apply for the new UK visa, just BNO status.

So, inconvenient but not game changing.

But on another level, the row could be the start of things to come.

There are reports that BNOs could be banned from holding public office.

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China's foreign ministry spokesman said it reserved the right to take further actions, so the chances of this row intensifying are real.

The British government is determined to live up to what it sees as a moral duty to protect BNOs.

And the Chinese government is determined to prevent a potentially damaging emigration from Hong Kong.

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Those eligible for the new visa can apply online and will need to book an appointment to attend a visa application centre.

And from 23 February, BNO status holders who hold an eligible biometric passport will be able to use an app to complete their application from home.

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Home Secretary Priti Patel said the mobile phone app was to give applicants greater security amid fears they could be identified and targeted by the authorities.

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