The Trump administration announced on Monday that it is revoking Hong Kong’s special trading status and stopping its defense equipment exports to Hong Kong, in order to protect U.S. national security amid the passing of Beijing’s national security law for Hong Kong.
“Commerce Department regulations affording preferential treatment to Hong Kong over China, including the availability of export license exceptions, are suspended. Further actions to eliminate differential treatment are also being evaluated.
“We urge Beijing to immediately reverse course and fulfill the promises it has made to the people of Hong Kong and the world,” he added.
The United States previously treated Hong Kong as a separate entity from mainland China in the areas of trade, investment, and immigration. This has meant that current U.S. tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods have not applied to Hong Kong.
Halt to Defense Exports
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in a statement on Monday that in addition to stopping exports of U.S.-origin defense equipment to Hong Kong, the administration will also take steps to impose similar restrictions on Hong Kong as it does for China on U.S. defense and dual-use technologies.“The Chinese Communist Party’s decision to eviscerate Hong Kong’s freedoms has forced the Trump Administration to re-evaluate its policies toward the territory,” Pompeo said. “As Beijing moves forward with passing the national security law, the United States will today end exports of U.S.-origin defense equipment and will take steps toward imposing the same restrictions on U.S. defense and dual-use technologies to Hong Kong as it does for China.”
“The United States is forced to take this action to protect U.S. national security,” he continued. “We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People’s Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the CCP by any means necessary.”
Pompeo said that the administration’s decision seeks to “target the regime, not the Chinese people.”
CCP’s National Security Law
Beijing formally began the process of drafting a national security law for Hong Kong on May 28, after the National People’s Congress (NPC) conducted a ceremonial vote.The law would criminalize those who engage in activities connected to “subversion, secession, terrorism, and any interfering activities by foreign countries and outside influences” that the CCP sees as a challenge to its one-party governing.
The NPC is a ceremonial rubber-stamp that approves directives from the CCP. The central government’s law will now go to Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing chief executive officer Carrie Lam, who will need to issue a legal notice in the Government Gazette for the law to come into effect.
Critics say such a law would further threaten Hong Kong’s autonomy and allow the CCP to target dissident voices under the guise of safeguarding the CCP’s “national security.”
CCP foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on June 29 that the regime will impose visa restrictions on U.S. individuals who have acted maliciously on issues related to Hong Kong, according to Chinese state-run media Xinhua.
In a statement late June 29, Pompeo responded, “The Chinese Communist Party’s threats to restrict visas for U.S. citizens is the latest example of Beijing’s refusal to accept responsibility for breaking its commitment to the people of Hong Kong. We will not be deterred from taking action to respond.”
