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The Biden administration will warn U.S. companies this week of the growing risks of operating in Hong Kong, as China claims greater control over the financial center.
According to three people familiar with the message, these threats include the Chinese government’s ability to access data that foreign companies store in Hong Kong and new law which allows Beijing to impose sanctions on anyone who allows foreign sanctions to be imposed on Chinese groups and officials.
President Joe Biden plans to issue the warning and impose more sanctions this week in response to Beijing’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and the genocide the United States has accused Beijing of committing Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang.
On Tuesday, the U.S. will update a warning the Trump administration issued in Xinjiang last year, according to five people familiar with the decision. Business advice will emphasize legal risks facing American companies unless they ensure that their supply chains are not involved in forced labor in Xinjiang.
The decision was based in part on the view that companies are not taking the issue seriously enough.
“The aim of the advice is to emphasize [that] if you don’t get out of those supply chains, you run the risk of violating U.S. law, ”said an official who did not want to be named.“ We want to make it clear to the business community… that they need to be aware of the risk. reputational, economic and legal status of their involvement with entities involved in human rights abuses. “
While Biden intensifies the Trump administration’s focus on Xinjiang will be the first time a U.S. administration has issued business advice in relation to Hong Kong.
A person familiar with the matter said there had been discrepancies in the administration, with some officials worried that the warning would deter US companies from operating in a critical financial center. But more falconry officials successfully argued this companies had to understand the nature of the risk of doing so.
In a different case, Biden can impose more sanctions against Chinese officials in Hong Kong, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The warning will mention recent events such as the forced closure of Apple Daily, the pro-democracy tabloid owned by Jimmy Lai.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce added 14 Chinese companies to its blacklist of exports, accusing companies of engaging in human rights abuses and surveillance in Xinjiang. Beijing criticized the measure as an “unreasonable suppression” and pledged to respond with “necessary measures.”
The White House is also proposing a policy that will allow Hong Kong citizens in the United States to remain after their visas expire if they face possible political persecution in Hong Kong. But this policy is being debated and is not expected to be part of the package of actions to be announced this week.
The warning will affect Hong Kong’s sizeable American business community. The city’s American Chamber of Commerce has more than 1,200 members and 282 U.S. companies established their regional headquarters in 2020.
U.S. companies have been baffled over the passage of a national security law a year ago, in part because it would allow Beijing access stored data to Hong Kong servers. More recently, companies have been alarmed by the possibility of China enforcing the counter-sanctions law, which allows for asset forfeiture, in Hong Kong.
Although the decision to provide asylum to Hong Kong citizens in the United States had not been finalized, this development would outrage Beijing, hostile to foreign governments such as the United Kingdom and Canada. offering refuge to those fleeing political persecution.
Beijing it has not prevented it Hong Kong residents have accepted the British (overseas) visa program, but it has made it harder for redemption of savings for those who do.
The White House and the state department declined to comment on the impending actions in Hong Kong.
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