HKSAR govt strongly opposes HK-related bills becoming law

HONG KONG - The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Thursday expressed strong opposition to and extreme regret at US President Donald Trump's move to sign two HK-related bills into law.

Trump signed into law the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 and a second bill banning the export to the Hong Kong police of crowd-control munitions, such as tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and stun guns.

The HKSAR extremely regretted the US' patent disregard of the concerns and exhortations by Chinese authorities on many occasions.

In a press release, the HKSAR government said the two bills obviously interfered in Hong Kong's internal affairs, and were neither necessary nor justified. The government said it would harm the relations and interests between Hong Kong and the US.

"The two bills are unreasonable," a government spokesman was quoted as saying in the press release.

The US move has absolutely nothing to do with Hong Kong human rights and democracy and will send the wrong message to demonstrators. The HKSAR government was emphatic that it would not help ease the situation in Hong Kong.

The US has enormous economic interests in Hong Kong, the HK government emphatically pointed out in the press release. Trade between Hong Kong and the US was estimated to be worth US$67.3 billion in 2018, with the US running a US$33.8 billion surplus - its biggest with any country or territory. In addition, Hong Kong and the US have been working closely on export control and enforcement matters, the HKSAR government pointed out in the press release.

The HKSAR government hopes that the US government will adopt a pragmatic approach, taking into account what's mutually beneficial.