US House of Representatives passed four measures on Tuesday, on unanimous voice vote, taking a hardline stance on China. In particular, three of the legislations were in support for Hong Kong following over four months of protests. China’s Foreign Ministry immediately responded by accusing the US of “sinister intentions” and warned of retaliation should the acts were passed in the Senate too.
The measures include the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act that requires the US secretary os state to certify Hong Kong’s autonomy status every year. The Protect Hong Kong Act bans commercial exports of military and crowd-control items to Hong Kong Government. A third measures is a non-binding resolution, condemning China’s interference” in Hong Kong’s affairs and support the city’s right to protest. The fourth measure was another non-binding resolution commending Canada for its actions related to a US request to extradite Meng Wanzhou, CFO of telecom giant Huawei.
China’s Foreign Ministry warned in a brief statement, “if the relevant bill is finally passed into law, not only will it hurt Chinese interests and China-US relations, but also seriously damage US interests. Regarding the wrong decision of the US, the Chinese side will have to enact effective countermeasures, firmly safeguard Chinese sovereignty, security and development interests”.
