The U.S. State Department said it notified Hong Kong on Wednesday that Washington has suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements with the semi-autonomous city following China’s imposition of a sweeping national security law.

The ending of the agreements follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s order last month to end Hong Kong’s special status under U.S. law to punish China for what he called “oppressive actions” against the former British colony.

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The State Department said in a statement the agreements ended covered “the surrender of fugitive offenders, the transfer of sentenced persons, and reciprocal tax exemptions on income derived from the international operation of ships.”

“These steps underscore our deep concern regarding Beijing’s decision to impose the National Security Law, which has crushed the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong,” State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

The Hong Kong government said the U.S. decision to end the agreements showed “disrespect for bilateralism and multilateralism under the current administration and should be condemned by the international community”.

“The HKSAR Government strongly objects to and deplores the US action, which is widely seen as a move to create troubles in the China-US relationship, using Hong Kong as a pawn,” it said, referring to the city by its formal designation as a Special Administrative Region of China.

Trump signed an executive order last month that he said would end the preferential economic treatment for the city following the imposition of the draconian new security law.

The legislation punishes anything China considers secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison and has drawn criticism from Western countries that worry the law will end the freedoms promised when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

STATE DEPARTMENT WARNS TOP US BUSINESSES ON CHINA HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Beijing and the Hong Kong government have defended the law as necessary to restore order and preserve prosperity after months of at times violent anti-government protests last year.

Hong Kong has become another contentious issue between China and the United States, whose relations were already strained by differences over trade, China’s claims in the South China Sea, and its treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority.

U.S.-China ties have deteriorated to their worst level in decades, analysts say.

Washington this month imposed sanctions on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and other current and former Hong Kong and mainland officials whom Washington accuses of curtailing political freedom in the financial hub.

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The U.S. government has also required goods made in the former British colony for export to the United States to be labeled as made in China after Sept. 25.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Susan Heavey and Marguerita Choy, Robert Birsel)

Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-ends-agreements-with-hong-kong-which-says-it-is-a-pawn

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A foreign ministry statement Thursday repeated heated condemnations of the laws and said China will counteract. It said all the people of Hong Kong and China oppose the move.

It´s still unclear, however, how China will respond exactly.

Trump signed the bills, which were approved by near-unanimous consent in the House and Senate, even as he expressed some concerns about complicating the effort to work out a trade deal with China´s President Xi Jinping.

“I signed these bills out of respect for President Xi, China, and the people of Hong Kong,” Trump said in a statement. “They are being enacted in the hope that Leaders and Representatives of China and Hong Kong will be able to amicably settle their differences leading to long term peace and prosperity for all.”

Congress approved the bills last week following months of unrest in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. Before Wednesday´s signing announcement, Trump would only commit to giving the measures a “hard look.”

Office workers and pro-democracy protesters hold up their hands to represent their five demands wanted from the government as protests continue in Central district of Hong Kong, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019. A major tunnel in Hong Kong reopened Wednesday as a weeklong police siege of a nearby university campus appeared to be winding down, closing one of the more violent chapters in the long-running anti-government protests in the Chinese territory. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

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China´s foreign ministry called the laws a “naked hegemonic action” that seriously interfered in Hong Kong and China´s internal affairs, violated international law and “fundamental norms of international relations.”

“The U.S. side ignored facts, turned black to white, and blatantly gave encouragement to violent criminals who smashed and burned, harmed innocent city residents, trampled on the rule of law and endangered social order,” the statement said.

The laws´ basic intent is to undermine Hong Kong´s prosperity and stability along with the “historical progress of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

It called the measures “extremely evil in nature and dangerous in motive.”

“We advise the U.S. not to act incautiously, otherwise China will be required to counteract resolutely and all the consequences created by this will have to be borne by the U.S. side,” the statement said.

The two countries are currently locked in a trade war and have deep differences over China´s claims to the South China Sea and Taiwan, human rights issues and accusations of Chinese industrial espionage.

The first bill Trump signed mandates sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who carry out human rights abuses and requires an annual review of the favorable trade status that Washington grants Hong Kong.

Another bill prohibits export to Hong Kong police of certain nonlethal munitions, including tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, water cannons, stun guns and tasers.

The munitions bill was passed unanimously, while Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the sole House member to oppose the human rights bill.

Trump acknowledged last week that he was weighing the ramifications of signing the bill.

“Look, we have to stand with Hong Kong,” Trump said in an interview on “Fox & Friends.” He continued: “But I´m also standing with President Xi. He´s a friend of mine. He´s an incredible guy.”

Democratic and Republican lawmakers applauded the signing of the bills. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said it “finally sends a clear and unequivocal message to the people of Hong Kong: We are with you.”

Sen. Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the bills are “an important step forward in holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its erosion of Hong Kong´s autonomy and its repression of fundamental human rights.”

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who sponsored the House human rights bill, said Xi “should understand that the U.S. is not kidding about human rights. Beating, torturing, and jailing of democracy activists is wrong and this historic legislation lets China know that respecting fundamental human rights is paramount.”

Activists hailed Trump´s action.

“I know that many people in Hong Kong are happy that the U.S. government has passed a new bill,” said Figo Chan, a 23-year-old Hong Kong protester who was honored with the John McCain Prize for Leadership at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada last weekend.

“No one wants to die and no one wants to be hurt,” Chan said. “I hope that citizens of many different countries can in their own way fight for democracy.”

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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign rally Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-7733807/Trump-signs-bills-support-Hong-Kong-protesters.html

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The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act passed the House of Representatives by 417 to 1, one day after the Senate unanimously passed the measure, provoking an outcry from Beijing.

The bill requires the US president to annually review the favorable trade status that Washington grants to Hong Kong, and threatens to revoke the coveted status that the semi-autonomous Chinese territory enjoys with the United States if its freedoms are quashed.

The measure now heads to Trump. He has not decisively said whether he will sign it, although the passage by a strong veto-proof majority may affect his calculus on the bill.

The House, by 417 votes to 0, also approved Senate-cleared legislation that would ban sales of tear gas, rubber bullets and other equipment used by Hong Kong security forces.

The bills set up a potential conflict between the two economic superpowers that could jeopardize a major trade deal that has been under negotiation for months.

Source: AFP/de

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/hong-kong-rights-bill-clears-us-congress-heads-to-trump-12112894

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