China News Agency, Hong Kong, July 15 (Hong Kong) The Hong Kong SAR Government issued a solemn statement on the 15th, strongly opposed the US authorities signing the so-called "Hong Kong Autonomy Act" passed by the US Congress into US law, and expressed a series of measures introduced by the US Presidential Executive Order Extremely disgusted and strongly dissatisfied.
A spokesman for the SAR Government stated that, as stated in the statement of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US government’s practices seriously violated international law and basic rules of international relations, and it was gross interference in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs. The SAR Government will fully cooperate with the countermeasures to be taken by the Central Government and will not allow the US hegemony to succeed.
A spokesman for the SAR Government said that the United States, for its own political considerations, used human rights, democracy and autonomy as an excuse to introduce measures in violation of international law. The purpose is to use the Hong Kong issue to create incidents and strike China; what is even more annoying is that the United States continues to destroy the Hong Kong SAR The relationship with the Central Government under "one country, two systems" and the political slogan of "supporting Hong Kong people" to beautify its bad behavior and make it hypocritical. This move is also bound to damage the relationship and common interests between China, the United States and Hong Kong and the United States, and cause great harm to American companies and people.
The double standards that the United States has traditionally adopted are also exhaustive. They maintain national security to rationalize the measures of bills and administrative orders. However, they regard the central government’s legislation for maintaining the national security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as weakening the high degree of autonomy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Every country has the right and obligation to maintain its national security, and national security affairs in any region belong to the central authority. No matter which country implements a single system or a federal system, national security legislation is carried out by the central government rather than the local government. The United States has at least twenty laws related to the maintenance of national security, and its implementing agencies are all federal agencies.
The spokesman also pointed out that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region enjoys the unique status of a separate customs zone under the "one country, two systems", which is conferred by the country's Constitution and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and is recognized by multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization. It is not given by individual countries or can be revoked.
In addition, the United States has benefited greatly from the economic and trade exchanges between the two places. The US’s trade surplus with Hong Kong has accumulated to approximately US$310 billion between 2010 and 2019. In 2019 alone, it exceeded US$26 billion. highest. At present, there are about 1,300 U.S. companies involved in a wide range of businesses operating in Hong Kong, enjoying the same treatment as local companies entering the mainland market. The American Chamber of Commerce is currently the largest international chamber of commerce in Hong Kong, and 85,000 American citizens also use Hong Kong as their home. If the United States believes that unilaterally introducing various measures to restrict normal business activities or personnel exchanges will not affect the interests of the United States, it seems to be deceiving themselves.
The SAR Government will carefully study whether the U.S. measures violate the rules of the WTO, and will not rule out taking action under the rules of the WTO to safeguard Hong Kong’s interests. In addition, the SAR Government also reiterated that the measures of the Bill and Executive Order have no legal effect on Hong Kong’s financial institutions. (Finish)