U. S. Warning Hong Kong Protests – Free PDF Download

U.S WARNING

• A 1992 U.S. law affords Hong Kong preferential treatment in matters of trade and economics compared with China. Areas of special treatment include visas, law enforcement and investment.
• Cardin said Hong Kong enjoyed the special status in exchange for the “one country-two systems” arrangement guaranteeing it a high degree of autonomy and human rights after its handover to China from Britain in 1997.

WHY ARE PEOPLE PROTESTING?

•  The protests were triggered by a controversial bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where the Communist party controls the courts, but have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement.
• Public anger – fuelled by the aggressive tactics used by the police against demonstrators – has collided with years of frustration over worsening inequality and the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive, densely populated cities.

NOTES

• On July 1, 1997, the lease ended and the government of Great Britain transferred control of British Hong Kong and the surrounding territories to the People’s Republic of China.
• The transition has been more or less smooth, although human rights issues and Beijing’s desire for greater political control cause considerable friction from time to time. Events since 2004—particularly in the summer of 2019—have shown that universal suffrage continues to be a rallying point for Hong Kongers, while the PRC is clearly reluctant to allow Hong Kong to achieve full political freedom.

HONG KONG’S DE-FACTO CONSTITUTION

• Hong Kong’s de-facto constitution, the Hong Kong Basic Law, enshrines this uniqueness. It guarantees freedoms that are unavailable to Chinese mainlanders, such as the right to protest, the right to a free press and freedom of speech.
• One of the tenets in the Basic Law is that Hong Kong has the right to develop its own democracy, and previous Chinese officials pledged that the central government in Beijing wouldn’t interfere with that. But in recent years, Beijing has repeatedly reinterpreted the Basic Law — now it says it has “complete jurisdiction” over Hong Kong.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR HONG KONG’S ECONOMY?

• While mainland China is Hong Kong’s most important trading partner, the city is an international business and financial hub, and the economy is already showing signs of hurting as a result of the protests.
• Companies have already reported “serious consequences from the disruption,” including lost revenue, disrupted supply chains and shelved investments, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

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