Hong Kong is facing more political and economic pressure in the wake of intensifying tensions between China and the United States. Shortly after an unjustified business alert by Washington over the perceived threats arising from the city’s national security laws, the government’s overseas trade offices in the US are also bracing for possible restrictions under a package of anti-China bills passed this month.
Such a lose-lose political gesture is in no one’s interest and will only further undermine business and other important exchanges bilaterally.
The bipartisan Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act requires the US secretary of state to review the city’s three trade missions – in New York, San Francisco and Washington – and strip them of privileges if they are found not to operate with a “high degree of autonomy”, a reference to the promise by Beijing for the city under the governance model of “one country, two systems”.
The bill, which may ultimately result in the closure of the offices, was passed as part of “China Week”, a House of Representatives’ Republican-led effort to advance bills targeting Beijing’s economic, political and technological influence. All bills that pass the House must also clear the full Senate before being signed into law.
