US State Department Releases 2022 Hong Kong Policy Act Report

The report comes amidst British judges withdrawing from Hong Kong’s highest court and new round of arrests 

Washington, DC (March 31, 2022) Today, the US State Department released its 2022 Hong Kong Policy Act Report and accompanying certification. In a statement, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken stated, “sweeping arrests of Hong Kong residents, as well as the forced closure of institutions including Apple Daily and the June 4 Museum, underscore the scope of these deeply damaging changes…Beijing will ultimately force many of the city’s best and brightest to flee, tarnishing Hong Kong’s reputation and weakening its competitiveness. Hong Kong’s position as a free, global financial center will continue to suffer as a result.”

Full Report here.

The Campaign for Hong Kong releases a statement from its President, Samuel Chu:

“The ‘de-certification’ of Hong Kong’s autonomy, for the third consecutive year, does not and should not surprise anyone. The destruction of Hong Kong’s political institutions, civil society, independent press, judiciary, and global standing have been complete, systemic, and relentless over the past 12 months. 

I believe it is overdue for the US and other international bodies, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, to seriously reconsider and revoke Hong Kong’s membership and participation as separate and distinct from the PRC. Just as we have isolated Russia and Putin economically and globally for their war in Ukraine, we cannot continue to allow the Beijing and Hong Kong leaders to benefit from their international status and accompanying privileges while repressing their own people and threatening foreign citizens.

While the report is not a policy document, it sets the foundation and building blocks for meaningful and proactive policies by Congress and the Administration moving forward. The time is now for Congress to reconcile and pass the House’s America COMPETES Act and the Senate’s COMPETES Act - as we seek to address threats stemming from ongoing human rights violations, supply chain reliance, data and privacy protection, and measures like the Anti-Foreign sanction laws that the PRC could impose unilaterally overnight in Hong Kong.

The world now recognizes that we were too late in acting to deter Russia and Putin in their aggression - let us not do the same about the Chinese Communist Party and Xi.”

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