US Revokes Hong Kong Special Status

[727Sky]

US Revokes Hong Kong Special Status, Ends Exports of Defence Equipment, Sensitive Technologies
© REUTERS / POOL

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier denounced Beijing for "decreeing an end to freedom in Hong Kong", warning that the United States will treat Hong Kong as "just another piece of mainland China", since the Chinese Communist Party appears to treat the region in the same way.
Mike Pompeo tweeted that the United States will end its export of defence equipment and "sensitive US Commerce Department-controlled dual-use technologies" to Hong Kong, adding that "if Beijing now treats Hong Kong as "One Country, One System, so must we". 

Today, the United States is ending exports of @StateDeptPM controlled U.S. origin defense equipment and sensitive @CommerceGov controlled dual-use technologies to Hong Kong. If Beijing now treats Hong Kong as “One Country, One System,” so must we.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 29, 2020

In his statement, Pompeo claimed that the action was taken to "protect US national security".

"The United States is forced to take this action to protect US national security. We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People’s Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the CCP by any means necessary", the statement said.

Pompeo added that additional measures by the Trump administration against Hong Kong will "reflect the reality on the ground in Hong Kong". 
The announcement came after Pompeo warned that Washington would "move away" from agreements that the US has with Hong Kong that are "different from those we have with Beijing". Pompeo has repeatedly insisted that the US will treat Hong Kong in the same way that it treats mainland China, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

"President Trump has made very, very clear to the extent that the Chinese Communist Party treats Hong Kong as it does Shenzhen and Shanghai, we will treat them the same. We have many agreements that are unique between the United States and Hong Kong, separate and different from those we have with Beijing. We will move away from every one of those", Pompeo said at a virtual conference at the 2020 Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

Revoking of Hong Kong's special status
In a follow-up statement, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the suspension of "regulations affording preferential treatment to Hong Kong over China".

"Commerce Department regulations affording preferential treatment to Hong Kong over China, including the availability of export license exceptions, are suspended. Further actions to eliminate differential treatment are also being evaluated. We urge Beijing to immediately reverse course and fulfill the promises it has made to the people of Hong Kong and the world", the statement read.

Under the 1992 United States-Hong Kong Policy Act, the region enjoys a special status as a customs territory separate from mainland China. This act allowed Hong Kong to have its own export control system and made it a territory where the US tariffs on Chinese goods did not apply.
Another spike in tensions between the US and China came after Beijing introduced new legislation for Hong Kong envisaging imprisonment and penalties for subversive activity and attempts to undermine state authority. The new law was met by waves of protests and condemnation from the United States.
Denouncing the US measures, Beijing has repeatedly said that the use of Hong Kong is a part of China's internal affairs and must not be interfered with.

I was expecting this to happen but you never know until the deed is done.
https://sputniknews.com/us/2020062910797...mpeo-says/

[F2d5thCav]

In hindsight, I am surprised that HK held on to as much of its special status as it did for so long.

Cheers

[guohua]

I am Happy we did, Now get in there and Support those Hong Kong Freedom Fighters.

[727Sky]

I am Happy we did, Now get in there and Support those Hong Kong Freedom Fighters.

I wish we could but it is darn hard to fight back when the population is disarmed. 20 Kung Fu fighters are no match for a weapon with 30 round magazine IMO.

The Hong Kong we knew and liked is no more as I am afraid it is a lost cause. I just hope the same fate does not happen to Taiwan.

               Taiwan warned against ‘wishful thinking’ that US will come to rescue if China attacks

• Su Chi, former secretary general of the island’s National Security Council, says government should not delude itself over
  America’s ability or willingness to stop a PLA invasion
• Su says proposed Taiwan Defence Act should not create false hopes because it raises the prospect that the US is no longer able to react effectively
  

[/url]


[url=https://www.scmp.com/print/news/china/military/article/3091085/taiwan-warned-against-wishful-thinking-us-will-come-rescue-if]



Photo: Handout

Two Chinese H-6 strategic bombers entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Sunday. 
China’s increasing belligerence towards Taiwan has raised questions about whether the US would really come to the
island’s aid if it was attacked, with one former senior security official warning against “wishful thinking”.

In the latest incident, two PLA Xian H-6 bombers briefly approached Taiwan’s air defence identification zone from the
east on Sunday after flying from the East China Sea through the Miyako Strait between the Japanese islands of Okinawa
and Miyakojima, according to the defence ministry in Tokyo.

It was the 10th such incursion by the PLA warplanes in the past month and the 16th this year and observers said it was
intended both to practise for any future attacks and send a warning to the US against supporting the island.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military...-rescue-if

[F2d5thCav]

Looks like a copy of an Ilyushin "Beagle".

Cheers