United States-Hong Kong Policy Act

The United States-Hong Kong Policy Act, or more commonly known as the Hong Kong Policy Act (S. 1731 Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 102–383) or Hong Kong Relations Act, is a 1992 act enacted by the United States Congress. It allows the United States to continue to treat Hong Kong separately from Mainland China for matters concerning trade export and economic control after the 1997 Hong Kong handover.[1]

United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act to set forth the policy of the United States with respect to Hong Kong, and for other purposes.
Enacted bythe 102nd United States Congress
Effective1 July 1997
Citations
Public lawPub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 102–383
Statutes at Large106 Stat. 1448
Codification
U.S.C. sections created22 U.S.C. §§ 5701–5732
Legislative history
Major amendments
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act

The Act was amended on November 27, 2019, by the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.[2]

On May 27, 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Hong Kong "no longer autonomous", putting its special designation into doubt,[3] which in turn eliminated the special treatment for Hong Kong with the Executive Order 13936.[4]

On July 14, 2020, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (S. 3798) was signed into law. It was enacted in response to the Hong Kong national security law and imposes sanctions on persons who violate the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Hong Kong Basic Law and the banks that do business with them.[5] Executive Order 13936 normalization for Hong Kong on par with Mainland China was also signed into effect the same day.[4]

Content

The act states that Hong Kong maintains its own export control system as long as it adapts to international standards. The act also pertains to "sensitive technologies", which require Hong Kong to protect the technologies from improper use.[1] The U.S. will fulfill its obligation to Hong Kong under international agreements regardless of whether the People's Republic of China is a participant of the particular agreement until the obligations are modified or terminated.[6] Should Hong Kong become less autonomous, the US president may change the way the laws are applied.[1] That special treatment were eliminated with the Executive Order 13936 pursuant to this Act along with a 2019 amendment, in the aftermath of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests and the Hong Kong national security law.[4]

At the time of initial publication of this act, the State Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Controls has stated US will not prejudge the situation in advance of monitoring efforts.[1]

Due to the Act, CoCom members designated Hong Kong a "cooperating country" since 1992 until CoCom ceased to function in 1994.[1]

Reaction

In the run-up to the handover of Hong Kong, former Senator Jesse Helms (then chairman of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee and a supporter of the Act) wrote in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal of the benefits that the Act had for relations between Hong Kong and the United States.[7]

Beijing criticized the act, describing it as foreign interference into the domestic affairs of the PRC.[8]

Academics, members or organizations of the Hong Kong pro-democracy camp and U.S. Congress have called for the Act to be reviewed in connection with the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill proposal, the ensuing protests against it and the subsequent introduction of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.[9]

See also

References
  1. Hong Kong's reversion to China: effective monitoring critical to assess U.S. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 1-4289-7837-2
  2. Wang, Christine (November 27, 2019). "Trump signs bills backing Hong Kong protesters into law, in spite of Beijing's objections". CNBC. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  3. "Pompeo officially declares Hong Kong 'no longer autonomous,' slams China intervention". Fox News. May 27, 2020.
  4. "Executive Order Eliminates Differential Treatment for Hong Kong" (PDF). Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. July 21, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 30, 2020.
  5. Toomey, Pat (June 25, 2020). "S.3798 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Hong Kong Autonomy Act". congress.gov. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  6. Lauterpacht, Elihu. Greenwood, C J. Lee, Karen. Oppenheimer, Andrew G. International Law Reports. [2002] (2002). Cambridge University. ISBN 0-521-80775-1.
  7. Helms, Jesse (June 20, 1997). "We Will Take Up Hong Kong's Fight". The Wall Street Journal. In 1992, my colleagues and I in the U.S. Congress passed, and President George Bush signed, the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Act, making U.S. support for the Joint Declaration a matter of law while pledging continued close bilateral relations based on Hong Kong's autonomy from China. More significantly, the Act directly linked Hong Kong's autonomy to future U.S.-Hong Kong relations by authorizing the president to determine whether Hong Kong is autonomous and, if it is not, to suspend laws according Hong Kong separate treatment from the PRC. Therefore, if China wishes to benefit from U.S. investment, the vast majority of which goes through Hong Kong, then China had better not fool around with Hong Kong's autonomy.
  8. Chan, Ming K. The Challenge of Hong Kong's Reintegration With China. [1997] (1997). Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 962-209-441-4.
  9. Some relevant sources include:
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