Source: AFP
The United States warned businesses on Friday of growing risks doing business in Hong Kong, saying routine operations could breach the financial hub’s new national security regulations.
China had agreed to a “One Country, Two Systems” approach to Hong Kong before the territory was handed over by Britain in 1997.
But Beijing has cracked down on mass protests in 2019, with Hong Kong’s unopposed legislature in March passing a decree that carries life sentences for crimes including treason and sedition.
Updating a business advisory first issued in 2021, the State Department and other US agencies warned of “new and increased risks” for companies operating in Hong Kong.
“The vaguely defined nature of the law and previous government statements and actions raise questions about risks associated with normal activities,” he said of the new Article 23 law.
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Such routine activities could include researching government policies and maintaining connections with local officials, journalists and non-governmental organizations, it said.
The opinion also said that differences are narrowing between Hong Kong and the Mainland of the People’s Republic of China.
“Under laws similar to those recently enacted in Hong Kong, PRC authorities in mainland China appear to have broad discretion to treat a wide range of documents, data, statistics or material as state secrets and to arrest and prosecute foreign nationals for alleged espionage. he said.
More than 300 people have been arrested under an initial security law of 2020. According to the State Department, among them is an American citizen.
The United States has repeatedly warned that Beijing-led security regulations are jeopardizing the openness that has allowed Hong Kong to flourish as a trade hub.
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Hong Kong leader John Lee defended the new decree as a move to prevent violence following mass protests in 2019.
Source: AFP
