Explainer | How Hong Kong ended up a pawn in US-China battleground – and Washington’s next move

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Hong Kong protesters who lobbied hard for US support welcome Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s shock announcement

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Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, according to the US State Department. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:33am, 29 May 2020Updated: 7:39pm, 29 May 2020

The United States sent shock waves on Wednesday evening by certifying that Hong Kong was no longer highly autonomous from China – a crucial move that could set the city on the path to losing preferential economic and trade treatment it enjoys from Washington. That assessment, announced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, was regarded as a retaliatory action against Beijing’s announcement that it intends enacting a national security law for Hong Kong.

While protesters in Hong Kong cheered the US announcement, hoping it will force Beijing to abandon its hardline approach to the city, businessmen fear the impact on the city’s reputation as an international financial centre. This is what the American position means, how it came about, and its possible implications.

Why is the US taking a position on Hong Kong’s autonomy?

Both the US-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 and the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 require the US Secretary of State to certify to Congress every year that the city retains sufficient autonomy from Beijing to justify preferential trading terms from Washington. The US announcement this week reflects Pompeo’s current assessment.

Mike Pompeo’s announcement caused shock waves. Photo: AFP

What did Pompeo cite as evidence of Hong Kong being no longer autonomous?

A two-page report to Congress seen by the Post catalogued three key events: first, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s assertion last November of its right to decide whether Hong Kong laws comply with the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution; second, the statement by Beijing’s liaison office in April that it was not bound by Article 22 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that no central government departments should intervene in the city’s affairs; and third, Beijing’s decision last week to “unilaterally and arbitrarily” impose a national security law on Hong Kong.

Pompeo had condemned the proposed law, saying it ignored the will of Hongkongers and would be a death knell for the high degree of autonomy Beijing promised under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, when Hong Kong was returned by Britain to China in 1997.

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