The UK government on Sunday officially opened a new visa scheme designed to offer holders of British National (Overseas) status in Hong Kong a path to citizenship at a time when freedom and human rights in the former British colony are under unprecedented threat from the Chinese regime. The scheme, first announced last July after Beijing’s imposition of a draconian national security law for Hong Kong, allows BN(O) status holders to live, study, and work in the UK for five years and eventually apply for citizenship. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “immensely proud” of having introduced the new scheme. “In doing so we have honoured our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have stood up for freedom and autonomy—values both the UK and Hong Kong hold dear,” he said in a statement issued on Friday. The same day, the Chinese …