Passport sales boom

Political repression in Hong Kong creates passport boon for Vanuatu

Vanuatu's honorary citizenship programme now makes up about 25 percent of total government revenue, bringing in $US16 million ($NZ23.97m) in the first quarter of this year.

Graeme Smith from the Australian National University in Canberra said this was driven by Chinese investors seeking a bolthole in the wake of President Xi Jinping's recent declaration as leader for life.

"The abolition of the term limits I think shifted something in a lot of people's minds and made them worried so that's why there's a huge number of passport sales," Dr Smith said.