Stay out of Hong Kong affairs, city warns US again after national security law sanctions bill clears Senate
- Punitive US sanctions bill triggered by national security law is ‘totally unacceptable’, according to statement on Hong Kong government website
- Legislation is on way to US President Trump for final approval
The US Congress has no right to intervene in Hong Kong’s internal affairs, the city government said in an online statement on Friday, a day after the US Senate unanimously passed a punitive sanctions bill in reaction to the controversial new National Security Law imposed on the city this week by Beijing.
“Once again, we urge the US Congress to immediately stop interfering in HKSAR's internal matters,” the statement, by an unidentified spokesman, said on the Hong Kong government’s website on Friday. It used the abbreviation for the city’s official name, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
“The act and the so-called sanctions are totally unacceptable. They will not deter us but will only harm the relations and common interests between Hong Kong and the US,” the statement said.
“The implementation of the one country, two systems principle in the HKSAR is entirely the internal affairs of the PRC.”
05:50
What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Autonomy Act passed the US House of Representatives without objection on Wednesday, and then won US Senate approval unanimously on Thursday.
It now awaits President Trump’s decision to enact it into law or veto it, though a veto would likely be overturned by a broad bipartisan majority in the Congress.