House Passes Hong Kong Bills Affecting Trade; China Promises to Retaliate
Two bills that could affect trade with Hong Kong and two resolutions criticizing Hong Kong and China passed the House by voice vote on Oct. 15. H.R. 4270, the PROTECT Hong Kong Act, would ban the export of tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray to Hong Kong, so that U.S. companies aren't complicit with crackdowns on protestors (see 1909190040). The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, H.R. 3289, requires the State Department to affirm that Hong Kong still deserves its special status in customs and export controls because the one country, two systems agreement for China and Hong Kong is still in force. That bill would also sanction people involved in human rights abuses and the suppression of “basic freedoms” in China and Hong Kong, and would have an annual evaluation of Hong Kong's export control compliance.
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China said it will retaliate after the House’s passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Accountability Act, saying it harms China’s “interests.” “China will definitely take strong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during an Oct. 16 press conference. "Hong Kong is part of China and Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs that brook no foreign interference," he said. "We urge the US side to come to a clear assessment of the situation, immediately stop pushing the Hong Kong-related act and stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs before falling off the edge of the cliff."
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said on the floor just before the vote, "I believe it is time for the United States to reconsider its policies toward Hong Kong.... It is time we put the Chinese Government on annual notice that further erosion of autonomy or a crackdown will cause the city, which serves as an important financial haven for wealthy Chinese elites, to lose its special economic, financial, and trade arrangement with the United States." The bill gives the State Department the ability to avoid terminating any of that special treatment if it determines that keeping the special status would protect the autonomy of Hong Kong or that it is in the national security interests of the U.S.
The House also passed two non-binding resolutions, one condemning China for retaliating against Canada, which is extraditing a top Huawei executive to the U.S.; the other "condemning the interference of the People's Republic of China in Hong Kong's affairs, and supporting the people of Hong Kong's right to protest."