US threat to remove Hong Kong’s special status would hurt American business as much as it would China’s economic interests
When China’s National People’s Congress overwhelmingly supported new national security legislation for Hong Kong on May 28, seen by many as a death knell for the city’s “one country, two systems” semi-autonomy, US President Donald Trump was quick to signal the US would retaliate in kind.
In a broadside against Beijing, he ordered his administration to begin the process of removing Hong Kong’s special trade status under US law, which entitles it to separate treatment from the mainland in terms of customs and immigration, privileges that bolster the city’s status as the world’s third-biggest international financial center.
Trump has also promised to impose sanctions on individuals seen as responsible for “smothering – absolutely smothering – Hong Kong’s freedom.”
Beijing’s decision to bypass Hong Kong's quasi-independent legislature and impose a new national security law, which will punish secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in the city, was “only the latest in a series of actions” undermining Hong Kong’s promised freedoms, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the US Congress.
When China’s National People’s Congress overwhelmingly supported new national security legislation for Hong Kong on May 28, seen by many as a death knell for the city’s “one country, two systems” semi-autonomy, US President Donald Trump was quick to signal the US would retaliate in kind.
In a broadside against Beijing, he ordered his administration to begin the process of removing Hong Kong’s special trade status under US law, which entitles it to separate treatment from the mainland in terms of customs and immigration, privileges that bolster the city’s status as the world’s third-biggest international financial center.
Trump has also promised to impose sanctions on individuals seen as responsible for “smothering – absolutely smothering – Hong Kong’s freedom.”
Beijing’s decision to bypass Hong Kong's quasi-independent legislature and impose a new national security law, which will punish secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in the city, was “only the latest in a series of actions” undermining Hong Kong’s promised freedoms, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the US Congress.
Read the full story at Asia Times.
Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
