Easy on HK, US groups urge
State Secretary Mike Pompeo tells lawmakers China has voided Hong Kong autonomy
WASHINGTON—US business groups urged US President Donald Trump to act slowly on Hong Kong after China’s legislature approved new national security laws to curb unrest that has plunged the Chinese territory in its first recession in 10 years.
The US Chamber of Commerce in Washington said that jeopardizing Hong Kong’s special status would be a “serious mistake” as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told US lawmakers that China’s actions had voided Hong Kong’s autonomy, paving the way for steps that would affect 1,300 US companies, some 85,000 American residents and thousands more of foreign workers, including more than 130,000 Filipinos.
The Hong Kong economy shrank by 0.4 percent between
October and December over a 3 percent contraction from July to September, official data showed.
Cause of recession
The recession was caused by often violent antigovernment protests and the protracted trade war between the United States and China.
“The text of the law in China has not yet been released. Words matter,” said Craig Allen, the president of the Us-china Business Council. The group would like to see all sides “deescalate and maintain the ‘one-country two systems’ model for Hong Kong, which has served everyone so well for so many years,” he said.
“If they are targeting Hong Kong’s financial business, they’d think US financial companies have a lot of dominance in Hong Kong. But this is not really the case anymore, since Chinese companies have gained market share,” said Iris Pang, chief economist at ING
Bank in Hong Kong.
“China will retaliate on this. It’s more the Chinese retaliation that I’m waiting for and worried about, because I don’t know how they will retaliate,” she added.
Dane Chamorro, a partner in Control Risk Group’s Asia Pacific practice, said a larger exodus would depend on whether the security law preserves Hong Kong’s business law framework and the free movement of capital.
More important business
“You will have people concerned about it for sure, but they’re not going to leave as long as those two things are there,” Chamorro said, adding many international companies operate in countries with onerous security regimes.
What’s more important is preserving the sanctity of contracts, consistent labor rules and predictable regulation, Chamorro said.
The United States and China clashed over Hong Kong at the United Nations on Wednesday after Beijing opposed a request by Washington for the Security Council to meet over China’s plan to impose new national security legislation on the territory.
The US mission to the United Nations said in a statement that the issue was “a matter of urgent global concern that implicates international peace and security” and therefore warranted the immediate attention of the 15-member council.
China “categorically rejects the baseless request” because the national security legislation for Hong Kong was an internal matter and “has nothing to do with the mandate of the Security Council,” China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun posted on Twitter.