Mike Pompeo calls Beijing’s move against Hong Kong ‘disastrous’ and hints at US sanctions
- ‘We stand with the people of Hong Kong,’ US secretary of state says in warning mainland leaders against imposing national security law
- Pompeo’s agency can sanction people who undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy and is authorised to determine whether the city should retain its special trade status
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated a warning to China about Beijing’s plan to pass a new national security law tailor-made for Hong Kong, calling the move “a death knell” for the semi-autonomous city and holding out the threat of sanctions.
“The United States condemns the People’s Republic of China (PRC) National People’s Congress proposal to unilaterally and arbitrarily impose national security legislation on Hong Kong,” Pompeo said on Friday.
“The decision to bypass Hong Kong’s well-established legislative processes and ignore the will of the people of Hong Kong would be a death knell for the high degree of autonomy Beijing promised for Hong Kong under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a UN-filed agreement,” he said.
Pompeo made his remarks hours after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced at the opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) that the legislature’s Standing Committee would “establish sound legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security” in Hong Kong. Li made no reference to the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – in his report, the first time he has not done so since he took office in 2013.
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Hong Kong democrats bash national security law from China’s two sessions, US also voices concern
NPC votes rarely stray from the objectives of Beijing’s senior leadership, all but ensuring that the Standing Committee’s national security legislation – which will be voted on as early as next month – will pass.
