Hong Kong bid for visa-free access to US in jeopardy after Snowden departure
State Department official warns that Edward Snowden's departure will have an impact
Hong Kong’s refusal to detain Edward Snowden may yet have consequences for the city’s residents.
In a case of exquisite bad timing, the row over Hong Kong’s decision to let the NSA leaker fly to Russia - in spite of a US extradition request - came at the same time the US Senate was poised to vote on a massive immigration reform bill. Buried deep in the 1,076-page bill is a long-awaited amendment making Hong Kong eligible to join the US Visa Waiver Program, which allows visitors into the US for 90 days with their passports only.
But US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell suggested on Tuesday that the waiver, which has been the subject of years of lobbying by Hong Kong, may now be in peril. He had been asked to describe the repercussions of Snowden’s unimpeded departure on Sunday from Hong Kong, on both Sino-US relations and the visa waiver amendment.
“Clearly, these issues have an impact when we have a breakdown on co-operation on such a key issue,” Ventrell told the daily press briefing in Washington.
His comment came a day after White House spokesman Jay Carney slammed the decision to let Snowden leave Hong Kong, saying it “unquestionably has a negative impact on the US-China relationship”. “We are just not buying that this was a technical decision by a Hong Kong immigration official. This was a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant,” Carney said.
The Hong Kong amendment was inserted into the immigration bill by Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii. The amendment was approved by the US Senate Judiciary Committee on May 16, by 14 votes to 4. Those backing the amendment included a bipartisan array of some of the most powerful names in the senate, among them Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer and Republicans Orrin Hatch and Lindsey Graham.