Next, this bill will need to receive the approval of the US House of Representatives before reaching President Trump’s work desk. The Republican Senator Pat Toomey stated that sanction methods were used to penalize those who want to sabotage the autonomy of Hong Kong or to erode the fundamental freedom platform that the people of Hong Kong deserve.
The US Congress is increasing its pressure on China in the tense context of the tension between the two biggest economies in the world is rising. At the start of June, Trump passed the law of sanctions for the Chinese officials who are deemed to have oppressed the Islamic minority group.
Last year, the US Congress also passed the Hong Kong human and autonomy rights, requiring the US Department of State to report annually to the Congress about the officials trying to sabotage the “one country, 2 models” of Hong Kong. This law also gives the President of the US the right to confiscate the assets of these individuals and ban them from entering the US.
The law recently passed by the Senate shares the same contents, with one step further which is applying the similar sanctions on the financial institutions relevant to the Chinese officials considered to be interfering with the Hong Kong domestic affairs.
Last weekend, the Standing Committee of China National People's Congress (NPC) published several details in the National Security Law draft which will be applied to Hong Kong, paving the way for the most major impacts in the lives of the people in this Administrative Region ever since it was returned to China by Britain in 1997.
The law draft requires both the central and local authorities to establish fresh agencies in Hong Kong. A mainland agency called the National Security Commissioner Office of the People’s Republic of China will be founded in Hong Kong. The responsibilities of this office include analyzing the national security situation in Hong Kong and proposing advice regarding the important strategies and policies.
The Hong Kong Authority will also be required to set up a “committee to ensure the national security” headed by the Chief Executive and has at least 10 other members – including those at the top of administrative, personal law, management, and security agencies of Hong Kong, as well as of the police and customs department. Even though the Chief Executive is responsible for appointing a general secretary of the committee, the Chinese central government will also assign a national security adviser to join the agency.
Source: https://cafef.vn
