Beijing urges US Congress not to pass HK Act

Hong Kong belongs to China and its issues are entirely China’s internal affairs, which should not be intervened in by any foreign government, power, organization and individual, said Geng Shuang, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry. China strongly urged members of the US Congress to see clearly the situation and stop examining the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and intervening in Hong Kong’s issues and China’s internal affairs, he said. Geng said the House and Senate committees of the US Congress had ignored the disgraceful behavior of Hong Kong’s violent extremists, the demands of the city’s people and the basic rules of international relations. He said the fact that the two committees had publicly supported these violent extremists exposed the malicious intention of some in the US Congress who wanted to disrupt Hong Kong to contain China’s development. Geng said Hong Kong had protected the interests of 80,000 citizens, 1,300 companies and a large amount of investments from the US. He said the passing of the Act by the two committees would fuel the extremists’ arrogant attitudes and make Hong Kong even more chaotic. “It will harm not only China’s interests, but also the US’ interests,” Geng said. “China will hit back forcefully at any US action that aims to hurt China’s interests.” On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which was written to support democratic freedoms in Hong Kong. The bill will be scheduled for votes in both chambers in mid-October. The legislation is intended to act as an amendment to the US-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, which kept US business and other ties to the city intact after its 1997 handover from Britain to China. It would require the US President to report to Congress and impose sanctions on the individuals responsible for “abducting and torturing” human rights activists.