Press release: Presidential executive order on inbound migration to US

Foreign Office statement on what the Presidential executive order on inbound migration to US means to British nationals and dual nationals.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has today held conversations with the US Government and as a result we can clarify that:

  • The Presidential executive order only applies to individuals travelling from one of the seven named countries.

  • If you are travelling to the US from anywhere other than one of those countries (for instance, the UK) the executive order does not apply to you and you will experience no extra checks regardless of your nationality or your place of birth.

  • If you are a UK national who happens to be travelling from one of those countries to the US, then the order does not apply to you – even if you were born in one of those countries.

  • If you are a dual citizen of one of those countries travelling to the US from OUTSIDE those countries then the order does not apply to you.

The only dual nationals who might have extra checks are those coming from one of the seven countries themselves – for example a UK-Libya dual national coming from Libya to the US.

The US has reaffirmed its strong commitment to the expeditious processing of all travellers from the United Kingdom.



WeChat data reveals Chinese passion with monetary gift

Giving monetary gift through WeChat, China’s major instant messaging app, has become a popular holiday custom, with people born in the 1980’s being the most active group, according to latest data of WeChat.

On Friday alone, the eve of 2017 lunar new year, a record of some 14.2 billion electronic hongbaos, or red packets containing gift money, were given and received, according to WeChat, which is operated by Tencent.

Those who were born in the 1980s have sent and received the most red packets last year compared to those born in the 1990s and 1970s.

WeChat data also showed that men tend to give out more hongbaos than women. Geographically, people in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hunan lead in giving and receiving red packets.

It is a tradition of Chinese to give hongbao to friends and relatives during Spring Festival. Nowadays, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and other local festivals are also the peak times for red packets.

This year, new forms of red packets such as “face-to-face and AR red packets” were adopted. Lin Yuwen, a Beijing resident, said he distributed red packets totaling 1,200 yuan (175 U.S. dollars) on Friday, almost double the amount last year.

Analysts say the electronic red packets are used by Internet giants to expand their shares in the mobile payment market.



Theresa May would be failing the British people if she does not postpone the state visit and condemn Trump’s actions – Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, commenting on President Trump’s potential state visit to the UK, said:

“Donald Trump should not be welcomed to Britain while he abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees’ and women’s rights.

"Theresa May would be failing the British people if she does not postpone the state visit and condemn Trump’s actions in the clearest terms. That’s what Britain expects and deserves.”



Man killed in tiger attack in east China zoo

A man has died in hospital after he was attacked by a tiger in a zoo in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo on Sunday afternoon.

The attack occurred around 2 p.m. at the Tiger Hill enclosure in Ningbo Youngor Zoo, according to the administrative committee of Dongqian Lake Tourist and Holiday Resort in the city, where the zoo is located.

The tiger was shot dead by the police. The surveillance footage is currently being reviewed.



China unveils top names for Mars spacecraft

China has released a short list of eight names for the country’s first Mars spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch by 2020.

The eight names– “Fenghuang” (phoenix), “Tianwen” (questions for heaven), “Huoxing” (Mars), “Tenglong” (soaring dragon), “Qilin” (Kylin), “Zhuque” (rose finch), “Zhuimeng” (chasing dreams) and “Fengxiang” (flying phoenix), were the top names chosen from over 14,500 choices submitted through more than 35,900 proposals entered by people worldwide.

China plans to launch its first Mars spacecraft by 2020, which will orbit, land and explore the Red Planet.

Proposals were accepted from August last year.

The eight names were selected via a jury review and online polls.

The final choice will be announced around Space Day, April 24, according to a moon probe and space program center under the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, which solicited the proposals.