WORLD COUNTERS CHINA’S AGGRESSIVE POSTURING
As US Senate passes bill to sanction China over Hong Kong, Trudeau rejects calls to release Huawei CFO and Australian authorities raid MP’s properties over links with China
The US Senate on Thursday (local time) passed a bill by unanimous consent that would impose sanctions on China for its decision to implement the controversial national security law on Hong Kong, which critics say will erode the city's democratic freedoms.
One of the bills, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, would slap sanctions on individuals and businesses that help China restrict the autonomy of Hong Kong. The bill was authored by Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, CNN reported.
"What the government of China is doing in Hong Kong is unacceptable. They are taking away the rights of people in Hong Kong. They are snuffing out freedoms that exist there right now," Van Hollen was quoted as saying.
A second measure from Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is a resolution condemning China for violating the Sino-British
Joint Declaration signed in 1984 to guarantee autonomy for Hong Kong.
The new security law being adopted by China would "deal a mighty blow to the freedoms and liberties that Hong Kongers have enjoyed for decades now. It is a permanent break from the one country, two systems principle that has governed that city since 1997," said Hawley.
The measures, which were combined into one bill before getting the Senate's nod, still needs to be passed in the House of Representatives before President Donald Trump gives his assent.