Diplomat warns US lawmakers that censuring Hong Kong over autonomy ‘could backfire’
Senior Hong Kong official warns Congress reports on electoral reform in the city could backfire
A renewed attempt by US lawmakers to monitor “democracy and freedoms” in Hong Kong could backfire and damage the city, according to a senior Hong Kong official in the US.
Speaking to the US government-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) last week, Clement Leung Cheuk-man, Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs in the US, said he had been “very active” in lobbying cross-party lawmakers to reconsider their call to reinstate annual reporting on human rights and political developments.
The last report on Hong Kong was made by the State Department to Congress in March 2000.
In November, the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China – which includes cross-party heavyweights such as Democratic congresswoman leader Nancy Pelosi and Republican senator Marco Rubio – tabled the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in Congress and argued that Washington must back calls for genuine universal suffrage in the city.
Senator Sherrod Brown, co-chairman of the commission, warned Hong Kong’s autonomy was “under threat from China”.
The legislation would update the US-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to “reinstate and strengthen” the annual reports. The 1992 act was meant to allow the US government to continue to treat Hong Kong separately from China on economic matters after the 1997 handover.
READ MORE: HK diplomat seeks to deflect US lawmakers' efforts to sanction city over democracy row
The amendment states Hong Kong is ineligible for different treatment under US law unless the US president “certifies to Congress that Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous”.
However, the act would make Hong Kong “more vulnerable to uncertainty in US domestic politics and the ever-changing US-China relationship”, according to Leung. “We appreciate the [US] lawmakers’ concern and that their stated intention is to try %to help Hong Kong, but our argument is that they could damage or harm Hong Kong before they could actually help us,” he told VOA.
“We are trying to work very hard to convince members of Congress and their staff that this may not be a good idea.”
Leung could not be reached to give further details of what damage he feared.
A senior government source said bilateral ties between Hong Kong and the US had been at a low ebb since the government %refused to detain whistle-blower Edward Snowden, allowing him to escape to Russia.
Leung said he had also lobbied for visa-free treatment for Hongkongers visiting the US, and urged lawmakers to separate the discussion from the ongoing controversy over political reform in Hong Kong.
Professor Shi Yinhong, director of the Centre for American Studies at Renmin University and an adviser to the State Council, said the bill would not affect Beijing’s policy towards Hong Kong or sway the US administration’s position, even if it were passed.
“[The] US administration won’t make a big fuss over the Hong Kong question because of its need to maintain a good relationship with Beijing,” Shi said.
He said the US government should not connect visa-free treatment for Hong Kong residents with the city’s democratic development.
“But the attention sparked by the bill may delay the US government’s decision to grant visa-free treatment for Hong Kong residents,” he said.
