The US has condemned Hong Kong’s new national security law as a tool that could silence dissent at home and abroad, but so far US action has been significantly restrained and the Chinese territory’s democracy and are disappointing those who fight for freedom.
Since the law was swiftly passed on March 19, the United States has announced visa restrictions for an unspecified number of anonymous Hong Kong officials, but has taken no further action. This is a sharp contrast to 2020, when the Chinese government imposed national security restrictions to end months of unrest on Hong Kong’s streets. In response, the United States hit the city’s highest-ranking officials with sanctions and stripped the territory of its preferential trade status.
The new law, known as Article 23, currently expands the Hong Kong government’s powers to pursue people accused of espionage and target dissidents around the world, but Washington is treading cautiously.
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The State Department declined to preview or comment on potential actions, but said it was considering all options.
Analysts say the Biden administration may not want to destabilize relations with China in an election year, especially since the law’s impact could take time to materialize and any punitive U.S. action. We also believe that it is unlikely to bring about meaningful change.
“U.S. policymakers have come to terms with the fact that China’s takeover of Hong Kong is by all accounts complete and irreversible,” said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based research institute. “It seems like it’s happening,” he said. “Furthermore, Chinese policymakers have more or less signaled that Hong Kong’s fate is not up for debate, and that any concrete U.S. action would prompt Beijing to meaningfully reevaluate its approach to Hong Kong.” It is not entirely clear whether this will be encouraged or not.”
President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California, November 15, 2023. The United States sees Hong Kong’s new national security law as a potential tool to silence dissent at home and abroad, but has been very cautious in its response. . (Doug Mills/The New York Times, via AP, Pool, File)
Rory Daniels, managing director of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, said the U.S. “could be looking to adjust not just the enactment of the bill, but its effectiveness and response to its use.”
The wording of the new law is vague and its implementation will depend on interpretation of the law, but Daniels said it is concerning in itself and could undermine Hong Kong’s status as a safe haven for international contract settlement. said.
Willie Lamb, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, another Washington-based think tank, said the new security law is a sign that the White House wants to protect fragile U.S.-China relations, which have only stabilized in recent months. He said that it was enacted at a time when
“I think they don’t want relations to deteriorate before the election,” Lam said.
Hong Kong and the latest bill were brought up in a phone call between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 2. Xi told Biden that the law reflects the “constitutional responsibility to protect national security” and protects Hong Kong. According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is in the interest of Hong Kong people and global investors.
“The United States must respect China’s sovereignty and the rule of law in Hong Kong, and should not disrupt, much less interfere in, that process,” ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
A bill to revoke the diplomatic immunity of the Hong Kong Trade Bureau in the United States has not advanced in Congress. Nor has a bill been introduced that would require the president to consider imposing sanctions on Hong Kong’s judges, prosecutors and police chiefs if they are found to have violated civil rights. There is freedom.
“The recent response by the Biden administration is honestly concerning about its determination to stand up to Beijing’s aggression,” said Frances Hui, policy and advocacy coordinator at the Washington-based Hong Kong Freedom Caucus Foundation. said. “A stronger U.S. response is needed to encourage future behavioral changes by (Chinese) and Hong Kong officials. The visa ban goes some way, but it’s not enough.”
The committee and 23 other Hong Kong advocacy groups issued a joint statement Thursday calling the Biden administration’s response “inadequate and alarming.” They called on the government to sanction Hong Kong officials responsible for the escalating crackdown and to offer refuge to dissidents in the United States. They also called on Congress to pass the stalled bill.
Singleton said action by the private sector could be more meaningful.
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“Amid growing security concerns, U.S. companies have quietly scaled back operations in Hong Kong, with many concerned about the possibility of being arrested for routine business activities,” he said. . “More than any single U.S. government action, changes in private sector sentiment toward Hong Kong are likely to have the greatest impact on China’s ability to leverage Hong Kong’s unique position to reverse China’s economic downward spiral. .”
Lam said the US government may put the case on hold until the trial of prominent publisher Jimmy Lai in a high-profile national security case is concluded.
If a Hong Kong court sentences Lai to more than 20 years in prison, it would be equivalent to a life sentence considering he is 76 years old, but “the U.S. government cannot be seen as doing nothing,” Lin said. Mr. Zheng said.
