Hong Kong’s status ‘in peril’ while Trump ends links with WHO

Hong Kong’s status as a leading place to do business could be in peril following the adoption of a national security law.

The legislation, which was approved on Thursday in Beijing, led US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to say Washington will no longer treat Hong Kong, already reeling from anti-government protests and the pandemic, as autonomous from China.

And late last night,us president Donald Trump announced that the US would sanction Chinese officials “responsible for eroding the autonomy of Hong Kong”.

Dozens of people joined a protest in a mall in Hong Kong yesterday, some draping banners over the balconies with slogans such as “Independence for Hong Kong”.

Hundreds of people have been arrested during recent demonstrations that seek to revive the momentum of protests that shut down large parts of the city during the second half of last year.

The Chinese government has not given details of the law, which is aimed at suppressing secessionist and subversive activity in the former British colony.

Chinese leaders said the new legislation was needed to combat unspecified threats in the semi-autonomous region of seven million people.

But business groups, lawyers and financial analysts said potential repercussions range from loss of business for Hongkong’sfinancialmarkets and law firms to a loss of professional talent in the city.

Global companies were already beginning to shift some operations out of Hong Kong due to rising costs and uncertainty after prolonged, sometimes violent clashes between police and prodemocracy protesters.

The national security law has also added to worries that Hong Kong’s legal system is losing its independence.

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie

Lam has tried to reassure companies and the public that civil liberties will not be affected. But critics said the law undermines the “high degree of autonomy” promised when Britain handed control to China in 1997.

Meanwhile, in a speech taking aim at China and announcing sanctions over the situation in Hong Kong, President Trump also said the US “will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organisation”.

“The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government,” he said, adding that China “instigated a global pandemic that has cost over 100,000 American lives”.

China, he says, “pressured the World Health Organisation to mislead the world” about the virus.

“Countless lives have been taken and profound economic hardship has been inflicted all around the globe,” he added.