National security law: US ends exports of defence equipment and restricts dual-use tech to Hong Kong
- ‘We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China,’ US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says
- Hong Kong had previously been able to import dual-use technologies without the licences required when the same items were sold to the mainland
As China moves forward with the national security law, “we can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China”, Pompeo said in a statement.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s decision to eviscerate Hong Kong’s freedoms has forced the Trump administration to re-evaluate its policies toward the territory,” Pompeo said. The US “is forced to take this action to protect US national security”.
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Previously, Hong Kong had enjoyed special privileges that allowed it to import American defence equipment that Beijing did not have. It was also able to import dual-use technologies without the licences required when the same items were sold to mainland China.
“We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People’s Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the [Chinese Communist Party] by any means necessary,” he said.
The announcement came after the administration and lawmakers from both parties denounced the new national security law, which threatens to curb free speech and dissent in Hong Kong after a year of political tumult.
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A revocation of Hong Kong’s trading status would put an end to the preferential economic and trade treatment the city has enjoyed and which has, at least partly, contributed to making it a regional financial and business hub.
The State Department said Monday’s move was a consequence of Beijing’s decision to violate its own commitments under the 1997 Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The actions were meant to “target the regime, not the Chinese people,” Pompeo said. “But given Beijing now treats Hong Kong as ‘one country, one system,’ so must we.”
