Freedom continues to deteriorate in Hong Kong as the Chinese regime tightens its grip on the global financial hub, “directly threatening U.S. interests” in the city, the State Department said in the annual report released on March 31.
“As the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to Beijing approaches, Hong Kong’s freedoms are diminishing,” Blinken said.
Pro-democracy groups, associations, and media companies have continued being targeted by authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong, “creating a chilling effect and forcing them to shut down,” according to the report.
The State Department noted the shutdown of the city’s two largest independent media outlets as a hit to the city’s freedom of the press, which was protected under the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
But the city’s authorities “continued to use the national security law to undermine rights and freedoms” with the support of the communist regime in Beijing, the report said.
Among other concerns highlighted by the report was reduced freedom of religion. The State Department criticized authorities for curtailing activities of Falun Gong practitioners, including banning their street kiosks for allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols.
In response, the Hong Kong government, in a Friday statement, said it opposed “unfounded and ridiculous” allegations and demanded other countries stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.
At Friday’s daily briefing, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that Beijing was “strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposed” the report.
“The differences between Hong Kong and cities in mainland China are shrinking due to ongoing repression from the PRC,” Blinken said in the statement.
“Beijing will ultimately force many of the city’s best and brightest to flee, tarnishing Hong Kong’s reputation and weakening its competitiveness,” Blinken said. “Hong Kong’s position as a free, global financial center will continue to suffer as a result.”
The State Department report estimated some 15,000 U.S. citizens left Hong Kong last year due to the city’s strict COVID-19 rules and “other factors.”
The report noted that a U.S. citizen was arrested last January under the national security law. It warned that U.S. citizens who are publicly critical of the Chinese regime could be subjected to “a heightened risk of arrest, detention, expulsion, or prosecution” in the financial hub.
