Donald Trump ends preferential treatment for Hong Kong

Donald Trump also signed into law a bill that requires sanctions on Chinese officials who crack down on Hong Kong residents’ rights.

Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn as he returns to the White House in Washington, DC, on July 11, 2020, after visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Donald Trump has signed into law a bipartisan bill that requires sanctions on Chinese officials who crack down on the rights of Hong Kong residents to free speech and peaceful assembly, as well as the banks that do business with those officials.

Mr Trump, speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday, also said he had signed an executive order that he said would end preferential US treatment for Hong Kong.

The bill sailed through both houses of Congress by unanimous consent as China moved to impose a new national security law giving Beijing more control over Hong Kong following massive anti-government protests there. The US, UK and other Western countries have criticised the move for violating the high degree of autonomy promised to Hong Kong when Britain returned its former colony to Chinese rule in 1997.

The bill would impose sanctions on people or entities that the administration identifies as materially contributing to the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy. Examples include a police unit cracking down on protesters or Chinese Communist Party officials who enforce the national-security law. Banks found knowingly doing business with black-listed officials and agencies could also be sanctioned.

A provision in the bill gives Congress the ability to override a president’s decision to waive or terminate sanctions through a joint resolution of disapproval, which must pass both the House and Senate by a veto-proof two-thirds majority.

The Wall St Journal