The United States warned further measures were on the table to revoke its preferential treatment for Hong Kong, as Beijing imposed a controversial national security law on the city.
Aimed at barring secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in Hong Kong, the national security law was passed unanimously by Beijing early on Tuesday.
Suspending export licence exemptions granted to Hong Kong, but not to mainland China, targets companies that import sensitive technologies to Hong Kong then re-export them to the mainland.
The US was Hong Kong’s second-largest trading partner in 2019, with trade worth HK$516 billion (US$67 billion), official data showed.
Despite a backlash from the international community and within Hong Kong, mainland China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee on Tuesday passed the security law, to come into effect the next day on July 1, the date of the annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong on the anniversary of the city’s handover to Beijing.
The United States warned further measures were on the table to revoke its preferential treatment for Hong Kong, as Beijing imposed a controversial national security law on the city.
