As Hong Kong autonomy bill moves to Donald Trump’s desk, analysts focus on his previous reluctance to use sanctions
- Hong Kong Autonomy Act is awaiting US president’s signature, but analysts point to past disinclination to sanction China and Russia
- Individuals and banks could face sanctioning, with experts expecting surgically targeted sanctions to avoid widespread economic blowback
As US President Donald Trump faces pressure from rare bipartisan US congressional support for a bill authorising sanctions against officials deemed to have eroded Hong Kong’s autonomy, legal analysts are attempting to predict what exactly the American leader – who has shown a reluctance to dole out hard-hitting sanctions on China and Russia – will do next.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will then have 90 days to decide which officials to sanction, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin then having up to 60 days to identify “any foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts a significant transaction with a foreign person identified in the report”.
“Not later than one year after the date on which a foreign person is included in the report,” the president must impose sanctions on officials that could ban them from buying US property or travelling to the country. At the same time, banks or other financial institutions found to have financial dealings with these individuals could be banned from US dollar transactions and have their own executives sanctioned.
05:50
What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong
By this stage, Trump may not even be in the White House, but analysts are nonetheless parsing his recent behaviour, statements and attitude towards bills relating to Hong Kong and China and finding a leader who is not happy to go gung-ho on sanctions.