The U.S. House Passes the Bill to Sanction Banks Doing Business with Chinese Officials

The relationship of the U.S. and China might be going downhill as the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on penalizing banks and other entities doing business with Chinese officials who implement the new national security law in Hong Kong.

 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the new security law “brutal” and said that the One Country, Two Systems is dead.

“The law is a brutal, sweeping crackdown against the people of Hong Kong, intended to destroy the freedoms they were promised,” said Pelosi.

 

Earlier this week, China’s parliament on Tuesday has unanimously passed national security legislation for Hong Kong prohibiting acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorism activities and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security, with expected to carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

 

To reflect the disagreement in the new law, the United States has begun to halt Hong Kong’s special status, the move was in retaliation for Beijing’s preparation to impose national security law.

“We urge Beijing to immediately reverse course and fulfill the promises it has made to the people of Hong Kong and the world,” said the U.S. Commerce Department.

 

In retaliation to the stripping special status by the U.S., Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday that Hong Kong will not be frightened by any sanctions, in response to the U.S. revocation of Hong Kong’s special status.

Lam told a press conference that Hong Kong has made preparations for the U.S. move and estimated that the trade-restrictive measures will only cause a little inconvenience, stressing that the impact on Hong Kong’s technological innovation sector will be limited.

Lam added the United States enjoys the highest surplus worldwide in its trade with Hong Kong, with about 30 billion U.S. dollars a year.

 

Just one day after the implementation of the new law in Hong Kong, the police already arrested hundreds of protesters under the new law.