China warns of ‘HK act’ repercussions
Foreign Ministry says sanctions to be placed on US individuals and entities
The United States was condemned on July 15 after US President Donald Trump signed the “Hong Kong Autonomy Act” into law, as China said it will take countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate interests.
The Foreign Ministry said in an online statement that sanctions would be imposed against relevant US individuals and entities.
The US act slams the National Security Law for Hong Kong and threatens to place sanctions on China, which is a violation of international law and basic norms governing international relations and constitutes gross violations of China’s domestic affairs, the statement said.
Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs and admit no foreign interference, the statement said, adding that Beijing urges Washington to correct its mistakes, refrain from implementing the act and stop any interference in Hong Kong affairs and other domestic affairs of China.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on July 15 summoned US Ambassador Terry Branstad to protest a Hong Kong-related bill which scraps the city’s preferential treatments and was signed into law a day earlier.
Deputy Minister Zheng Zeguang told Branstad the act grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs and seriously violated international laws and norms, and China will take measures including sanctions on American entities and personnel to safeguard its legitimate interests.
Zheng said China has taken countermeasures and will continue to do so to defend its core interests, as the US challenges China in affairs relating to Xinjiang, Tibet and the South China Sea.
China urged the US to scale back from implementing the law and relevant executive order and stop interfering in China’s domestic affairs, Zheng said.
The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said on July 15 that Washington’s meddling in Hong Kong affairs and its threat are acts of bullying driven by hegemonic logic.
The office said in a statement that no external forces will undermine China’s resolve and confidence in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security as well as the long-term prosperity and stability of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
US economic sanctions will not substantially affect Hong Kong, but instead will severely dampen its own interests in the region, the office said.
The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council also expressed strong indignation. It said in a statement that the National Security Law for Hong Kong has taken effect and will be implemented rigorously.
Any act that endangers national security will be seriously punished without regard for external opinions, it said, adding that US attempts to block the law’s implementation will never succeed.
The Hong Kong SAR government said on July 15 that it will fully cooperate with the central government in taking countermeasures to frustrate
US attempts at hegemony.
The US moves, using human rights, democracy and autonomy as an excuse, are a product of its own political calculations, the SAR government said, and the act constitutes a violation of international law and an attempt to make trouble in Hong Kong and contain China.
The SAR government said the US law and presidential order ending Washington’s preferential treatment for Hong Kong have no legal force for the financial institutions of Hong Kong.
Political leaders, legal experts and scholars in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland also slammed the socalled Hong Kong Autonomy Act as arrogant. Hong Kong Executive Council
member Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said the sanctions are meant to retaliate for the National Security Law for Hong Kong and deliberately distort the city’s constitutional status.
Tian Feilong, an associate professor at the Law School of Beihang University, said the Sino-British Joint Declaration does not form the constitutional foundation of Hong Kong, and that is where the US did not have a correct understanding of the city’s autonomy under the “one country, two systems” principle. The act, a zero-sum tactic, will backfire and harm US economic interests, including US companies doing business with the city, Tian said.