US House speaker Nancy Pelosi backs congressional legislation on Hong Kong
- Pelosi, the leader of the House of Representatives, says she will bring the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act to a vote ‘as soon as possible’
- Taking part in news conference are Hong Kong activists Joshua Wong and Denise Ho, as well as Republicans in rare show of bipartisan support
US House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday threw her support behind legislation meant to back Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters.
Speaking at a news conference featuring Hong Kong activists Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Denise Ho, who testified before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) on Tuesday, Pelosi said she would bring the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 to a vote “as soon as possible”.
The bill, which has apparently angered Beijing, is currently under review in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and an identical version is in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The withdrawal of the Hong Kong government’s extradition bill, one of the five demands of the city’s anti-government movement, “is welcome news, but as we all know it’s not enough”, Pelosi, Democrat of California, said. “Much more must be done to fully realise the legitimate aspirations of the Hong Kong people in the guaranteed order of ‘one country, two systems’,” she said, referring to the guiding principle of Hong Kong’s relationship with mainland China.
Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, stood next to Wong along with Democrats including the House committee’s chairman Eliot Engel, underscoring the bipartisan support for the bill in the House.