Joe Biden confirms that warning to US businesses in Hong Kong will come on Friday
- ‘The situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating and the Chinese government is not keeping its commitment it made on dealing with Hong Kong,’ the US president says
- Speaking at a press conference with German leader Angela Merkel, he says their nations ‘will stand up for democratic principles and universal rights’
“Let me talk about the business advisory,” Biden said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, after he was asked for details about the warning his administration was reported to be issuing “tomorrow”.
“The situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating and the Chinese government is not keeping its commitment that it made [about] how it would deal with Hong Kong,” Biden said. “And so it is more of an advisory as to what may happen in Hong Kong. It’s as simple as that and as complicated as that.”
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Alongside the business advisory, the Biden administration is expected to issue on Friday fresh sanctions against individuals over the situation in Hong Kong, according to a source familiar with the plans.
The sanctions will target previously unsanctioned individuals, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
Biden made no mention of the new sanctions or any other specific Hong Kong-related policy action on Thursday.
Both the advisory and the sanctions were first reported by the Financial Times. According to the newspaper, the business advisory is set to highlight China’s ability to access data stored by companies in Hong Kong, as well as the risk of being targeted by a new Chinese law that could punish firms for complying with sanctions by foreign governments.
The Biden administration has largely maintained – or in some cases, such as the advisory, escalated – many of the pressure points enacted under former US president Donald Trump.