Donald J Trump President of United States of America today signed the executive order for Hong Kong Autonomy act 2020 which will demote Hong Kong from a privileged associate to a mere commoner.
The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong has long benefited from the differential treatment US and UK had been giving, including in areas like immigration, trade, financial and defense training. With the order, all these extended support will be suspended or revoked until further notice. Trump came to this decision after what the US felt of China removing the islands autonomous status when it introduced the new Hong Kong Security Law. US feels the new law designed by the National People’s Congress of China has its intention to unilaterally and arbitrarily impose national security legislation on Hong Kong. And that it was merely the latest salvo in a series of actions that have increasingly denied autonomy and freedoms that China promised to the people of Hong Kong.
Under the 1984 Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the agreement upon terms were for all parties to agree in keeping Hong Kong as an autonomous region without any change in its laws and freedom.
However with new Security law everything changes, the people of Hong Kong may face life in prison for what China considers to be acts of secession or subversion of state power –- which may include acts like last year’s widespread anti-government protests. The right to trial by jury may be suspended. Proceedings may be conducted in secret. China has given itself broad power to initiate and control the prosecutions of the people of Hong Kong through the new Office for Safeguarding National Security. At the same time, the law allows foreigners to be expelled if China merely suspects them of violating the law, potentially making it harder for journalists, human rights organizations, and other outside groups to hold the PRC accountable for its treatment of the people of Hong Kong.
China has repeatedly asked foreign nations to keep out of its internal issues and regards Hong Kong as one of its provinces, although it practices One Country Two System policy giving Hong Kong and its people exceptional freedom compared to its own.
On the latest Executive Order, Beijing has issued a stern notice condemning the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and that it will make necessary sanctions and impose restrictions on certain individuals. Its heart wrenching to see the people of Hong Kong made pawns in this political chess game with the only outcome being an intense and prolonged Cold War and the island turning into a degraded wasteland, which no one wants to see.
