Chinese FM, HKSAR govt slam US bill targeting Hong Kong trade offices

China US

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, its commissioner's office in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and HKSAR government on Wednesday strongly condemned the US House of Representatives for passing a bill that could revoke the privileges of Hong Kong trade offices in the US and potentially lead to their closure.

Chinese officials and experts urged the US to stop politicizing trade issues and interfering in Hong Kong affairs, warning that advancing the legislation will inevitably backfire and harm US interests. 

The so-called Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act, passed by the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, would allow the US president to remove the privileges and immunities of Hong Kong's trade offices in Washington DC, New York and San Francisco if they are not running with a "high degree of autonomy," Reuters reported. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry slammed the US' move as manipulating Hong Kong-related issues in an attempt to contain Hong Kong's development. 

China urges the US to stop advancing that act to prevent further damage to the stability and growth of China-US relations. Otherwise, China will take strong and resolute countermeasures, Mao Ning, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a press conference on Wednesday.

The Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR said that the move by the US "smears Hong Kong's international reputation and suppresses Hong Kong's external economic and trade cooperation" and it urged the US to end its interference in Hong Kong affairs. 

The HKSAR government issued a statement on Wednesday strongly condemning the US Congress for slandering the laws on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong and smearing the city's human rights situation.

"The US House of Representatives' fact-twisting attack on Hong Kong is politically driven, violates international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and grossly interferes in the affairs of Hong Kong," according to the statement.

The motive behind this act is clear - that the US aims to undermine the HKSAR in an attempt to disrupt China's prosperity and stability, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Wednesday, adding that such actions will also ultimately harm US interests. 

This approach will most likely backfire on the US trade and financial sectors, said He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, noting the US exports a significant amount to Hong Kong.

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