Bipartisan delegation to raise issue of sanctions mechanism under Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in US talks
- Four-day programme organised by non-partisan World Affairs Council in San Francisco kicked off with a dinner to welcome the visitors
- Key topics for discussion will surround relations between city and US within framework of legislation concerning Hong Kong, delegation member Regina Ip says
A bipartisan group of executive councillors and opposition lawmakers will raise the issue of the sanctions mechanism under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in a meeting with US officials in California, according to delegation members.
The act requires the US government to assess Hong Kong’s levels of human rights and democracy each year to determine whether Washington can continue to grant trade privileges under the 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act. It also allows for diplomatic action and economic sanctions against the city’s government and officials.
The four-day programme, themed the “US-Hong Kong Dialogue”, was organised by the non-partisan World Affairs Council in San Francisco and kicked off with a dinner on Thursday to welcome the visitors.
According to Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who sits on the Hong Kong leader’s cabinet, the Executive Council, among those at the dinner were the State Department’s Jonathan Fritz, deputy assistant secretary for China, Mongolia, and Taiwan Coordination Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Jennifer Hendrixson White, a senior staff member for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; and Hanscom Smith, the US consul general for Hong Kong and Macau.