HONG KONG/BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s parliament on Thursday approved a decision to go forward with national security legislation for Hong Kong that democracy activists and Western countries fear could erode the city’s freedoms and jeopardise its role as a global financial hub.
China says the new legislation will aim to tackle secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in the city. But the plan, unveiled in Beijing last week, triggered the first big protests in Hong Kong for months.
Thursday’s move was quickly condemned by the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada. U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic adviser warned that Hong Kong, which has enjoyed special privileges under U.S. law based on its autonomy from Beijing, may now need to be treated like China when it comes to trade and other financial matters.
“We can’t let this go unnoticed and they will be held accountable for that,” Larry Kudlow told CNBC.
Trump, who has vowed a tough U.S. response, told reporters he would hold a news conference on China on Friday. “We’ll be making certain decisions and we’ll be discussing them tomorrow,” he said.
Under congressional legislation Trump signed last year, it now falls to him to decide to end some, all or none of the U.S. economic privileges Hong Kong enjoys.
Trump offered a muted response to Hong Kong’s mass democracy protests last year while prioritizing a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping that Trump saw as important for his November re-election bid. But ti