Hong Kong’s narrative in US too negative to expect better ties ‘any time soon’, delegation told

American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong shares remarks from US officials, experts after returning from annual trip to Washington

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Ng Kang-chung

Published: 9:04pm, 18 Jul 2024

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Hong Kong’s narrative in the United States is too negative to expect improvement in mutual relations “any time soon”, while the city should strengthen its “two systems” characteristics, locally based American business leaders have been told in a recent trip to Washington.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong shared the remarks after its delegation returned from a four-day visit to the country’s capital, where they met policy experts and think tank, trade and commerce officials, among others.

The business group published a piece titled “Hong Kong in a thorny situation” on its website, saying those met during the trip were “very concerned” about the city’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

The legislation was introduced in March and complements the national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020.

“Given Hong Kong’s position between China and the US, the overall US sentiment towards Hong Kong is quite negative, and US-Hong Kong relations are unlikely to improve any time soon,” the business chamber said.

The delegation had also told US officials and experts that “a large majority of [chamber] members are hunkering down and not leaving Hong Kong” and were “still confident in the rule of law and believe in Hong Kong as an excellent place to do business”, it added.

The business group said those in Washington had raised “many questions” about Hong Kong as many of them had not visited the city in the past five years.

“They were marginally impressed with the situation described by the delegation, but shared frankly that the narrative on Hong Kong in Washington was too negative to anticipate any changes in views or in policy towards Hong Kong,” it said.

“Nevertheless, the delegation’s takeaway is that Hong Kong must continue to strengthen its ‘two systems’ characteristics.”

The commerce chamber was referring to Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” governing principle.

It said its trip was unlikely to produce “tangible changes” in terms of US policy towards Hong Kong, but added that it considered the trip to be worthwhile.

The delegation was able to hear “first-hand views from Washington on Hong Kong and China”, while using the trip to tell officials and experts in the country about the “strategic importance of Hong Kong, the strong US-Hong Kong business and people ties, and that life in Hong Kong continues to be vibrant and diverse”, it added.

Touching on the subject of US-China relations, the business group said the delegation was told that ties between the two nations continued to be “dismal” and that “distrust and suspicions from both sides are palpable”.

Commerce chamber chairman Geoff Siebengartner led this year’s delegation. Photo: Handout

“While neither side wishes to see the relationship deteriorate further, the US objective of ‘competition, confrontation and cooperation’ has matured into a steady-state but volatile China policy, which is barely keeping the relationship afloat,” the chamber said.

The Post has contacted the commerce chamber for further comment.

The organisation has sent delegations to Washington every summer since 1990, with the annual trip only halting during three years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year’s 10-strong delegation was led by chamber chairman Geoff Siebengartner, who was joined by the group’s president, Eden Woon, and vice-chairman David Butts, among other members.