Beijing’s retaliation plans against London offering Hongkongers holding British National (Overseas) passports a pathway to the right of abode boil down to making public officers with such documents prove their loyalty, analysts told The South China Morning Post.

Civil servants and other officials could soon find themselves facing the tough choice between keeping their BN(O) passports and retaining their jobs, they told the newspaper, responding to the Post’s exclusive report earlier this week that the central government was mulling banning those who hold the status from serving in the local administration.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed over to China in 1997, and the Basic Law preserves its autonomy as a Special Administrative Region under the principle of “one country, two systems”.