‘Gangster logic’: Beijing slams US extension of Hong Kong’s ‘emergency status’

China’s foreign ministry arm in Hong Kong has lashed out at the US for extending the city’s “national emergency” status for a year, denouncing the move as an act of hegemony and political manipulation that fully exposes its double standards and “gangster logic”.

It also urged the United States on Saturday to immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and respect its sovereignty and Hong Kong’s rule of law.

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a one-year extension of the “national emergency” status that was first declared by him in July 2020 during his first term and extended by his successor, Joe Biden, in response to the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong following months of anti-government protests in 2019.

The order revokes special trade privileges the US had granted Hong Kong and sensitive technology could no longer be exported to the city. Holders of Hong Kong passports would be treated the same as people possessing national ones.

A spokesman from the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong said the US had deviated from basic facts, disregarded justice and public opinion, and trampled on the spirit of the rule of law by extending the city’s “national emergency” status for the sixth consecutive time.

“[It] is an act of hegemony that weaponises economic and trade tools, a political manipulation to interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs, and a short-sighted move that goes against historical trends,” he said.