China braces for international fallout over Hong Kong national security law

Name: Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, US determines
Uploaded: 2020-05-29T13:00:17.000Z
Duration: 1 min 56 s
Description: Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, US determines

Beijing appears to have decided costs from not taking a harder line on anti-government protests outweigh consequences, analysts say

Foreign ministry has said it will take ‘necessary measures’ over sanctions from countries like the US, but its options may be limited

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US President Donald Trump is expected to give a press conference on China on Friday. Photo: Bloomberg

Sarah Zheng

Published: 9:00pm, 29 May 2020Updated: 1:24pm, 30 May 2020

Beijing is bracing for an international storm over its controversial national security law for Hong Kong, with expected repercussions to be announced by US President Donald Trump and a European Union meeting on the issue.

While Beijing likely anticipated the global outcry over the proposed legislation on Hong Kong, it appears to have determined that the costs from not taking a harder line on nearly a year of anti-government protests in the city outweighed the consequences from international fallout, analysts say.

China’s foreign ministry has vowed to take “necessary measures” over potential sanctions from countries such as the US, but observers believe Beijing has limited options to do so. China may reduce its imports of agricultural products from the US in retaliation, Reuters reported, citing three sources.

Trump will on Friday hold a press conference on China, a day after the Chinese legislature approved a resolution for the national security legislation to ban secession and subversion in Hong Kong – a move critics say will end the city’s semi-autonomy and further erode its freedoms.

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Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, US determines

In a bombshell announcement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said Hong Kong was no longer autonomous from Beijing, paving the way for the US to end its special trading status for the city and enact sanctions on officials in Hong Kong and China. Pompeo said the US was preparing to “take on” the problem of Chinese students engaging in espionage in America.