President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the revocation of Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law to punish China for calling it "repressive measures" against the former British colony, warning of retaliatory sanctions against Beijing.
Citing China's decision to draft a new national security law for Hong Kong, Trump signed the executive order, saying it would end the city's priority economic treatment.
"There are no special rights, no special financial treatment, and no export of sensitive technologies," he told a news conference.
In line with Tuesday’s deadline, they signed a bill that would enable the U.S. Congress to enforce a new security law to punish banks ’trade with Chinese security officials.
"Today I signed a law and executive order that China should be held accountable for its acts of aggression against the people of Hong Kong," Trump said.
“Hong Kong is now considered on par with China’s mainland,” he said.
According to the executive order, the text of a document issued by the U.S. Property White House restricts "anyone responsible or engaging in acts or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Hong Kong."
It instructs authorities to "revoke the license exemption for exports to Hong Kong" and to introduce special treatment for Hong Kong passport holders.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Beijing would impose retaliatory sanctions on American individuals and companies in response to legislation targeting banks. However, the statement released by the state media did not mention the executive orders.
"The Hong Kong cases are purely China's internal affairs and no foreign country has the right to interfere," the ministry said.
Critics of the security law fear it will crush the broader independence struggle given to Hong Kong when China returns to power in 1997, but supporters say it will bring stability to the city after a year of violent anti-government demonstrations.
Security law punishes Beijing for wreaking havoc, loneliness, terrorism, and defining prison life broadly with foreign powers.
China's relations with the United States have already been damaged by the global coronavirus epidemic, China's military establishment in the South China Sea, the treatment of Uyghur Muslims, and a huge trade surplus.
Trump's handling of the coronavirus virus epidemic has raised doubts about whether he can win re-election on November 3 amid new epidemics. He tried to blame China.
"Make no mistake. We hold China fully responsible for hiding the virus and blame the world for it. They may have stopped it, they should have stopped it. It's very easy to do at the source when it happens." He said.
Asked if he planned to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said, "I have no intention of talking to him."
A sharp sword on either side?
Analysts say the complete elimination of Hong Kong's special treatment would prove self-defeating for the United States.
The US Census Network shows that Hong Kong was the source of the largest bilateral U.S. goods trade surplus at the US $ 26.1 billion last year.
According to the State Department, 85,000 U.S. citizens lived in Hong Kong in 2018 and more than 1,300 U.S. companies worked there, including almost every major U.S. financial institution.
The area is a major destination for American legal and accounting services.
In late June, the United States began sending Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law, halting defense exports and restricting the region to high-tech products as China set out to enforce security law.
In May, Trump responded to China's plans for a security law, saying it was beginning the process of ending special economic treatment that would allow Hong Kong to become a global financial center.
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