General U.S. Says Hong Kong’s Autonomy Is Gone, Sowing China Trade Doubt

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The Trump administration said it could no longer certify Hong Kong’s political autonomy from China, a move that could trigger sanctions and have far-reaching consequences on the former British colony’s special trading status with the U.S.

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced the decision Wednesday, a week after the government in Beijing declared its intention to pass a national security law curtailing the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens.

“Hong Kong does not continue to warrant treatment under United States laws in the same manner as U.S. laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1997,” Pompeo said in a statement. “No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground.”

The move comes as tensions between the world’s two largest economies continue to escalate, fueled by accusations from President Donald Trump that China was slow to disclose the peril of coronavirus. Trump has threatened consequences for Beijing over its handling of the pandemic and more recently its steps to assert more control over Hong Kong.

A finding on Hong Kong’s autonomy was compelled by last year’s Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The law signed by Trump requires such a certification each year.


Read more here. (Bloomberg)


Here's a rundown of what's going on:

The HK Human Rights & Democracy act states that if Hong Kong is deemed as no longer being autonomous/retaining it’s political autonomy from China, then the US will treat it as such. This means that all special trade privileges that have been given to Hong Kong will be revoked; something that will have a lasting effect on the Chinese economy as Hong Kong is one of the largest ports in the world and is one of the main routes for Chinese investors and companies to trade with the West.

The purpose of deeming Hong Kong as no longer politically autonomous is to hurt China’s economy. There is only so much that the US can do to show China that they need to respect the Sino-British Declaration (the document stating that Hong Kong is to have a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after the handover) and this is probably one of the most impactful things they can do, besides starting a nuclear war.