As authoritarian countries such as Russia, China and Iran are more active in engaging in long-arm strategies to silence their critics in the UK, transnational repression is garnering more attention. It is right that the Metropolitan police and other British law enforcement agencies have specific units and mechanisms to counter it. But it takes more than just confronting this long-distance repression to make political dissidents of these authoritarian countries feel safe in the UK, and the UK government is not living up to expectations.

The threat is real. Members of the Hongkonger community have received threats from the Chinese regime – some have had threatening letters, some people were deepfaked into sexual content, some even had families questioned and arrested back home. With the level of this targeting linked to the deterioration of Hong Kong politics, many have utilised the humanitarian pathway enabled by the previous government to relocate.

The British national (overseas) visa route, opened on 31 January 2021, allows Hongkongers to come and stay in the UK. It has already granted more than 230,000 visas. It’s seen as a success: as proof that the British government honours its commitment to those facing political pressure in Hong Kong. But now, with more high-profile critics of the Chinese regime facing obstacles in the UK’s immigration system, more doubt is being cast........

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