China’s parliament ignored a warning from the Biden administration on Thursday by ratifying an election law that will dilute the proportion of democratically elected lawmakers in Hong Kong.
The move will sharpen the two countries’ confrontation over Beijing’s repression of the territory’s pro-democracy movement only a week before Antony Blinken, secretary of state, and Jake Sullivan, national security adviser, meet their Chinese counterparts for the first time.
Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Blinken said the US would continue to “take action against egregious violations of democracy and human rights in Hong Kong”.
The election law followed the passage last year of national security legislation that paved the way for a broad crackdown on the pro-democracy moment in Hong Kong.
Blinken said the Biden administration would “follow through on sanctions . . . against those responsible for committing repressive acts in Hong Kong”. He added that it would also remind US companies there were already “sanctions on the books that they need to be mindful of if they are operating in Hong Kong”.
The UK, Hong Kong’s colonial power until 1997, will review the move for possible breaches of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which lays out Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms after the end of UK rule.
The law is the “latest step by Beijing to hollow out the space for democratic debate in Hong Kong, contrary to the promises made by China itself”, UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab said. “This can only further undermine confidence and trust in China living up to its international responsibilities and legal obligations.”
On Monday, foreign diplomats in Hong Kong were summoned to meet Yang Yirui, who heads the Chinese foreign ministry’s office in the territory.
Yang warned them not to retaliate against the changes to Hong Kong’s election system, which will empower a pro-Beijing “election committee” to vet and appoint lawmakers. Previously, half the seats in the territory’s Legislative Council were directly elected after an open nomination process.
“A very few countries, driven by political motives and ideological bias, have made irresponsible remarks and even threats to meddle with the central government’s decision to improve the electoral system,” he said. “Their attempts are doomed to be futile.”
Former US president Donald Trump imposed sanctions against several senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials for their roles in cracking down on dissent in the territory.
Yang Jiechi, China’s top foreign policy official, and Wang Yi, the foreign minister, are set to meet Blinken and Sullivan next week in Alaska, the first senior face-to-face encounter between the two countries since Joe Biden became president.
Biden on Friday will also convene a meeting of the Quad — the US, Japan, India and Australia — as part of an effort to counter China.
The US president has taken a strong rhetorical stance towards China, including in his first call with Xi Jinping. But China was not afraid of “finger-wagging”, said Adam Nelson, an Asia expert at the National Democratic Institute, adding that Beijing was worried about “losing business, prestige and respect”.
Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democratic lawmaker whose wife fled Hong Kong before the 1997 handover to China, said he would not rule out sanctions. But he likened the measures to “a nail without the hammer” given China’s economic power, unless they were applied as part of a broader strategy with US allies.
Kurt Tong, a former US consul general in Hong Kong, said sanctions were “inevitable” but agreed that they would have little impact as Chinese officials had no assets in the US and were promoted after being targeted.
“You can even argue that sanctions just solidify China’s position on Hong Kong because they reinforce Beijing’s false narrative that everything happening in Hong Kong that China doesn’t like has been orchestrated by foreign powers,” said Tong, now at The Asia Group, a consultancy.
Ryan Hass, author of Stronger: Adapting America’s China Strategy in an Age of Competitive Interdependence, said the US had to recognise that there was “no silver bullet” and that it would have to play “a long game”.
“China’s bet is that the US and others will lose interest and accept as a fait accompli that Beijing has made these aggressive moves on Hong Kong,” Haas added.
But he also said the US could in the short-term follow the lead of the UK and Canada by creating pathways for Hong Kong citizens who want to flee Beijing’s crackdown.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress have introduced bills that would raise the priority of Hong Kong residents in the refugee application process.
Additional reporting by Michael Peel in Brussels
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