US President Joe Biden decided Thursday August 5 to offer temporary asylum to Hong Kong nationals present in the United States in the face of "the erosion of their rights and freedoms", in particular caused by the law on national security imposed by China.

"US support for the people of Hong Kong will not wane," wrote Joe Biden in an executive order issued Thursday and released by the White House.

According to the US administration, those affected by the proposal number "in the thousands".

"Faced with the arrests and political trials, the silence of the media, the restrictions imposed on the elections and the democratic opposition, we will continue to act," warned his spokesperson Jen Psaki.

China has "completely upset the institutions of Hong Kong and repressed the freedoms" of its inhabitants, denounced for his part Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who speaks of a "clear message" sent to the Chinese regime.

The American announcement was called "violent intervention" in the affairs of the city, by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong.

"By providing a so-called 'safe haven', it is trying to speak badly of Hong Kong, smear China and engage in actions aimed at destroying the city's prosperity and stability," said Friday. the ministry in a press release.

"Stay of deportation"

The text published Thursday urges the US migration authorities to grant Hong Kong nationals residing in the United States an 18-month reprieve before any obligation to leave the United States.

The legal device chosen, a "stay of deportation", is a direct prerogative of the President of the United States.

They will also be allowed to work in the United States.

This suspension may be refused under certain conditions, for example to convicted persons.

The Chinese embassy in the United States has denounced a decision which "interferes in a gross manner in the internal affairs of China".

"The American perception of the situation in Hong Kong confuses black and white," his spokesman said Thursday, arguing that since the implementation of the National Security Act a year ago, "the order social "had been" restored "and the" rule of law "" guaranteed ".

"Imaginary enemy"

The United States is making this offer of asylum as the takeover of the former British colony, which is supposed to enjoy more freedoms than the rest of China, continues inexorably.

The United Kingdom had also decided on January 31 to offer extended visas to millions of Hong Kongers and to offer them naturalization.

On July 27, a Hong Kong man was found guilty of terrorism and inciting secession in the first trial under the drastic national security law that Beijing imposed to overcome dissent.

On July 16, Washington had for its part already warned American companies of "increasing risks" for their operations in Hong Kong, after the implementation of restrictions by Beijing targeting this historic financial center.

Joe Biden's decision on Thursday comes as relations between Beijing and Washington seem to be straining a little more every day.

The very first visit to China by a senior official in the Biden administration a few days ago went very badly.

"The Americans see China as an imaginary enemy", had stormed the Chinese Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Xie Feng, during an interview with the number 2 of the American diplomacy, Wendy Sherman, visiting Tianjin (north) .

Not a week goes by without the two leading world powers, now engaged in an open race for economic, technological and military domination, clinging to each other.

And when it's not Hong Kong, it's Taiwan, for example.

Beijing thus denounced Thursday a “violation of its sovereignty” and threatened with “reprisals” after the green light of the United States to a sale of guns to Taiwan, intended to help the island against a potential Chinese invasion.

With AFP

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