HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s government said Wednesday that the U.S. House of Representatives distorted the facts in an attack on the city. The city passed a bill that could close the offices of its representative offices in America, while Beijing threatened to take countermeasures if the offices are actually closed.
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act was part of a series of bills relating to China is being considered by the House of Representatives this week. Many of the proposals slated for a vote appear to have both Republican and Democratic support, reflecting a strong consensus that congressional action is needed to counter Beijing.
If approved, the measures would still need to be approved by the Senate and signed by the U.S. president before they officially become law. They are expected to exacerbate diplomatic tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which see each other as rivals in many areas and have conflicting positions on several issues, including Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s Minister for Commerce and Economic Development, Algernon Yau, on Wednesday strongly condemned the bill’s passage, saying it was a political smear against laws protecting national security and discredited the city’s human rights record “without any reason.”
He said the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong had conducted a survey among its members and that about 70% of respondents did not feel negatively affected by the security law imposed by Beijing. He said there were about 1,200 American companies in the city.
“Passing the bill … in fact provides no benefit whatsoever to anyone,” he said.
The Hong Kong government said in a statement that the attack on the semi-autonomous Chinese city was “politically motivated,” violated international law and “grossly interfered” in Hong Kong’s affairs.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Hong Kong office also issued a strong statement saying that if the US were to implement the bill and close the offices, China would take decisive countermeasures.
The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday with bipartisan support, 413-3. The proposal proposes to require the White House to revoke the extension of certain privileges to the three Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the U.S. — in Washington, New York and San Francisco — if the city no longer enjoys a high degree of autonomy from China, and for other purposes.
Under the proposals, the U.S. Secretary of State would determine whether the offices deserve the privileges. If the answer is no, the offices would have to cease operations within 180 days of the provision being submitted to Congress.
Republican Rep. Chris Smith, chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said in a statement that the bill is a “necessary next step to tangibly demonstrate our solidarity with the persecuted citizens of Hong Kong.”
Since Beijing imposed the 2020 security law to suppress months of massive anti-government protests in 2019, authorities have arrested many prominent pro-democracy activists, including the founder of Apple Daily Jimmy Lai and former student leader Joshua Wong. Critics say freedoms that were promised to remain intact for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 have been drastically curtailed.
In response to the law, the US previously stripped the area of its preferential trade status and impose sanctions on senior Hong Kong officials. But Beijing and Hong Kong insist the law is needed to restore stability to the financial hub.
Anna Kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a Washington-based group advocating for the city’s pro-democracy movement, said in a statement that the bill was a much-needed response to hold the Hong Kong government accountable “for its egregious human rights violations.” Kwok was among a group of overseas-based activists targeted by Hong Kong Police Bounties.
Hong Kong has 14 foreign trade offices that aim to strengthen economic, trade and cultural ties between foreign territories and the city.
But they came under scrutiny when an office manager in his London office, along with two other men, was charged in Britain for allegedly assisting Hong Kong intelligence in May.
Chinese authorities in both the UK and Hong Kong at the time criticized the accusations The allegations were made by authorities in London and were, they said, the latest in a series of “baseless and defamatory” accusations made by the British government against China.
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Chen contributed from Washington, DC