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Hong Kong protests
Hong KongPolitics

Hong Kong democracy bill passed by US Congress ‘spells hope for students convicted over protests’

  • US expected to be lenient in granting study visas to students with a record of protest activity
  • Beijing, Hong Kong officials slam bill, which needs fine-tuning before Trump approves it

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Anti-government protesters wave a US flag during a demonstration at Chater Garden in Central. Photo: Felix Wong
Denise Tsang

Activists have cheered the progress of a United States bill targeting Hong Kong, saying it will help students convicted for involvement in the ongoing protests to get study visas, while placing government officials under scrutiny.

They hoped the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, passed swiftly by the US Senate with bipartisan support on Tuesday, will be signed into law soon by President Donald Trump.
Beijing hit back instantly at the passage of the bill, summoning a senior US diplomat and telling the US to keep its hands off China’s internal affairs, warning of retaliation if Trump gives it the green light. Hong Kong commerce minister Edward Yau Tang-wah called it “unwarranted and unnecessary”, saying the bill “adds fuel to the fire”.
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There are now two versions of the bill, the first passed by the US House of Representatives, and the second by the Senate. The differences have to be reconciled before it goes to Trump.

But pro-democracy activists were already cheering on Wednesday, speaking ahead of the US House of Representatives approving the Senate’s version of legislation.

Jason Y. Ng, a US lawyer and convenor of the Progressive Lawyers Group, which advocates the rule of law, said the bill stipulated that visa applicants who had been arrested or convicted for their roles in protests would not be denied a US visa, contrary to the existing arrangement.

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