Hong Kong leaders say Trump 'completely wrong' for curbing ties
31 May, 2020
Senior Hong Kong government officials lashed out on Saturday (May 30) at moves by US President Donald Trump to strip the location of its special status in a bid to punish China for imposing national security laws on the global financial hub.
Speaking hours after Trump said the town no longer warranted economical privileges and some officials could face sanctions, security minister John Lee told reporters that Hong Kong's government could not be threatened and would push ahead with the new laws.
"I don't think they'll flourish in using any methods to threaten the (Hong Kong) government, because we believe what we are doing is right," Lee said.
Justice minister Teresa Cheng said the basis for Trump's actions was "completely false and wrong", saying the need for national security laws were legal and necessary.
In a few of his toughest rhetoric yet, Trump said Beijing had broken its word over Hong Kong's high amount of autonomy from Beijing, by proposing the national security legislation and that the territory no longer warranted US economic privileges.
U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement about US trade relations with China and Hong Kong in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on May 29, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
"We will need action to revoke Hong Kong's preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory from the others of China," Trump said, adding that Washington would also impose sanctions on individuals viewed as accountable for "smothering - absolutely smothering - Hong Kong's freedom".
Trump told reporters at the White House that China's move on Hong Kong was a tragedy for the world, but he gave no timetable for the moves, leaving Hong Kong residents, businesses and officials to ponder precisely how far his administration will go.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said Saturday marked "a sad day" for China's freest city.
"That is an emotional moment for Americans in Hong Kong and it'll take companies and families some time to digest the ramifications," AmCham President Tara Joseph said in a statement.
"Many of us ... have deep ties to the city and with Hong Kong people. We love Hong Kong and it's really a sad day," she said, adding the chamber would continue steadily to use its members to keep Hong Kong's status as a essential business centre.
China's parliament this week approved a decision to create laws for Hong Kong to curb sedition, secession, terrorism and foreign interference. Mainland security and intelligence agents may be stationed in metropolis for the first time - moves critics say put the city's comprehensive freedoms at risk.
Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong insist the legislation will target only a little number of "troublemakers" who threaten China’s national security. They state such action is urgently needed after months of sometimes violent anti-government protests rocked metropolis last year.
Protests are simmering again as Hong Kong emerges from its coronavirus shutdown. Demonstrators are expected to try the streets on Sunday.
Trump did not name any sanctions targets but said the announcement would "affect the entire range of agreements we have with Hong Kong", including the US-Hong Kong extradition treaty to export controls on dual-use technologies and more "with few exceptions".
China's Global Times, published by the People's Daily, the state newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, said Trump's decision was a "recklessly arbitrary" step.
The Hong Kong government has already established an extended history of working ties around counterparts, distinct from Beijing, with cooperation on counter-terrorism, trade and money laundering.
A lot more than 1,300 US organizations have offices in Hong Kong and offer about 100,000 jobs. During the past decade, the US trade surplus with Hong Kong has been the largest among all its trading partners, totalling US$297 billion from 2009 to 2018.
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