WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered an end to Hong Kong’s special status under US law to punish China
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered
an end to Hong Kong’s special status under US law to punish China for what he
called “oppressive actions” against the former British colony, prompting
Beijing to warn of retaliatory sanctions.
Citing China’s decision to enact a new national
security law for Hong Kong, Trump signed an executive order that he said would
end the preferential economic treatment for the city.
“No special privileges, no special economic treatment
and no export of sensitive technologies,” he told a news conference.
Acting on a Tuesday deadline, he also signed a bill
approved by the US Congress to penalise banks doing business with Chinese
officials who implement the new security law.
“Today I signed legislation, and an executive order to
hold China accountable for its aggressive actions against the people of Hong
Kong,” Trump said.
“Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland
China,” he added.
Under the executive order, US property would be
blocked of any person determined to be responsible for or complicit in “actions
or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Hong Kong”,
according to the text of the document released by the White House.
It also directs officials to “revoke license
exceptions for exports to Hong Kong”, and includes revoking special treatment
for Hong Kong passport holders.
China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday Beijing
would impose retaliatory sanctions against US individuals and entities in
response to the law targeting banks, though the statement released through
state media did not reference the executive order.
“Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs
and no foreign country has the right to interfere,” the ministry said.
Critics of the security law fear it will crush the
wide-ranging freedoms promised to Hong Kong when it returned to Chinese rule in
1997, while supporters say it will bring stability to the city after a year of
sometimes violent anti-government protests.
The security law punishes what Beijing broadly defines
as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up
to life in prison.
US relations with China have already been strained
over the global coronavirus pandemic, China’s military buildup in the South
China Sea, its treatment of Uighur Muslims and massive trade surpluses.
Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has
raised doubts about whether he can win re-election on Nov 3 amid a surge of new
infections. He has attempted to deflect blame onto China.
“Make no mistake. We hold China fully responsible for
concealing the virus and unleashing it upon the world. They could have stopped
it, they should have stopped it. It would have been very easy to do at the
source, when it happened,” he said.
Asked if he planned to talk to Chinese President Xi
Jinping, Trump said: “I have no plans to speak to him.”
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