A U.S. bill aims at closing three Hong Kong representative offices in the United States, citing the former British colony’s loss of a high degree of autonomy under the communist rule, was passed by the congressional House Foreign Affairs Committee with a unanimous vote of 39 on Nov. 29.
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act in July, and will now submit it to the House Rules Committee.
Under Article 156 of the Basic Law, the Hong Kong authorities have set up 14 overseas Economic and Trade Offices (ETOs) around the world, including New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Bangkok, Berlin, Brussels, Dubai, Geneva, Jakarta, London, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto.
The bipartisan bill is welcomed by Hong Kong activist groups and Senator Marco Rubio (R), who tweeted that “Communist China has assimilated Hong Kong’s autonomy; as such, HKETOs should not enjoy separate diplomatic status in the U.S.”
In response, a Hong Kong government spokesperson said on Nov. 30 that the act was “factually wrong, malicious slander, and gross interference.”
“[The act] aims to achieve political objectives by smearing and attacking the work of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (ETOs) in the U.S. on promoting mutually beneficial economic and trade relations and cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and the U.S., and by misleadingly luring the removal of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities enjoyed by and even the closure of the ETOs,” they said.
Hong Kong Watch: HKETOs Controlled by CCP
In a report published in October 2022, Hong Kong Watch, a British civil society organization that has long been concerned about the city’s human rights situation, criticized HKETOs as being under the indirect control of the CCP and could be regarded as additional CCP embassies.“HKETOs use events, campaigns, and bilateral engagements to manage Hong Kong’s image and promote economic and cultural exchange overseas. Their work increasingly follows Beijing’s narrative of Hong Kong, using concepts such as the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to promote Hong Kong as a gateway to the PRC,” reads the statement.
“This replaces previous narratives such as One Country Two Systems, which presented Hong Kong as a unique, autonomous place. This is synonymous with the changes in the PRC-Hong Kong relationship and Hong Kong’s decreasing autonomy.”
HKETO ‘Remind’ Media of ‘Untrue’ Report
In December 2021, The Sunday Times published an article titled “China shows its true colors - and they’re not pretty,” criticizing the CCP for undermining “one country, two systems.”The article said that the Legislative Council election, in which only officially defined and vetted “patriots” are allowed to take part, would be a scam, and called on voters to boycott the election, which could lead to a “democratic victory.”
Gilford Law Sun-on, the director of HKETO in London, wrote a letter to the newspaper right after the publication of the article, criticizing the editorial as untrue. The article is not available for viewing online now.
ETOs Gained Funding Increase for Propaganda
In the Budget announced by Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Feb. 22, 2023, the estimated provision for HKETOs has increased substantially by 34.8 percent from the revised estimate of about $209 million in 2022/23 to the estimate of about $281 million in 2023/24, while the actual expenditure in 2021/22 is only about $177 million.The authorities said that HKETOs are responsible for establishing and developing contacts with local government officials to promote Hong Kong’s trade and economic interests.
