US accuses China of encroaching on Hong Kong’s autonomy in new human rights report

The United States government has accused China of “encroaching” on Hong Kong’s autonomy in the State Department’s first annual human rights report after Donald Trump was elected president.

It also said the central government had issued an “unnecessary and unsolicited” Basic Law interpretation that “pre-empted” Hong Kong courts’ adjudication of the behaviours of pro-independence lawmakers.

The report, issued by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday, came on the same day that a member of China’s supreme governing body, the Politburo Standing Committee, praised Hong Kong delegates in the country’s top advisory body for speaking out positively on the interpretation issued last year.

“The most important human rights problem reported was the central government’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy,” the State Department report said. “The National People’s Congress Standing Committee on November 7 issued an unnecessary and unsolicited interpretation of the Basic Law that pre-empted the ability of Hong Kong’s independent judiciary to rule on the matter.

“It marked the first time it had issued such an interpretation while a Hong Kong judge was deliberating the case in question and the second time it had done so in the absence of a request from Hong Kong authorities,” it stated.