{"id":116266,"date":"2021-06-11T09:32:24","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T09:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=116266"},"modified":"2021-06-11T09:32:24","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T09:32:24","slug":"exclusive-chinas-attacks-on-foreign-forces-threaten-hong-kongs-global-standing-top-u-s-envoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/exclusive-chinas-attacks-on-foreign-forces-threaten-hong-kongs-global-standing-top-u-s-envoy\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive-China's attacks on 'foreign forces' threaten Hong Kong's global standing -top U.S. envoy"},"content":{"rendered":"

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The top U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong said the imposition of a new national security law had created an \u201catmosphere of coercion\u201d that threatens both the city\u2019s freedoms and its standing as an international business hub.<\/p>

FILE PHOTO: Hanscom Smith, the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau attends a meeting in Hong Kong, China, May 17, 2021. REUTERS\/Tyrone Siu<\/figcaption>

In unusually strident remarks to Reuters this week, U.S. Consul-General Hanscom Smith called it \u201cappalling\u201d that Beijing\u2019s influence had \u201cvilified\u201d routine diplomatic activities such as meeting local activists, part of a government crackdown on foreign forces that was \u201ccasting a pall over the city\u201d.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s remarks highlight deepening concerns over Hong Kong\u2019s sharply deteriorating freedoms among many officials in the administration of President Joe Biden one year after China\u2019s parliament imposed the law. Critics of the legislation say the law has crushed the city\u2019s democratic opposition, civil society and Western-style freedoms.<\/p>\n

The foreign forces issue is at the heart of the crimes of \u201ccollusion\u201d with foreign countries or \u201cexternal elements\u201d detailed in Article 29 of the security law, scholars say.<\/p>\n

Article 29 outlaws a range of direct or indirect links with a \u201cforeign country or an institution, organisation or individual\u201d outside greater China, covering offences from the stealing of secrets and waging war to engaging in \u201chostile activities\u201d and \u201cprovoking hatred\u201d. They can be punished by up to life in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople … don\u2019t know where the red lines are, and it creates an atmosphere that\u2019s not just bad for fundamental freedoms, it\u2019s bad for business,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t have it both ways,\u201d he added. \u201cYou can\u2019t purport to be this global hub and at the same time invoke this kind of propaganda language criticising foreigners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith is a career U.S. foreign service officer who has deep experience in China and the wider region, serving in Shanghai, Beijing and Taiwan before arriving in Hong Kong in July 2019. He made his comments in an interview at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Hong Kong on Wednesday after Reuters sought the consulate\u2019s views on the impact of the national security law.<\/p>\n

In a response to Reuters, Hong Kong\u2019s Security Bureau said that \u201cnormal interactions and activities\u201d were protected, and blamed external elements for interfering in the city during the protests that engulfed Hong Kong in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are indications in investigations and intelligence that foreign intervention was rampant with money, supplies and other forms of support,\u201d a representative said. He did not to identify specific individuals or groups.<\/p>\n

Government adviser and former security chief Regina Ip told Reuters it was only \u201cChina haters\u201d who had reason to worry about falling afoul of the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be criminal intent, not just casual chat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s comments come as other envoys, business people and activists have told Reuters of the chilling effect on their relationships and connections across China\u2019s most international city.<\/p>\n

Private investigators say demand is surging among law firms, hedge funds and other businesses for security sweeps of offices and communications for surveillance tools, while diplomats describe discreet meetings with opposition figures, academics and clergy.<\/p>\n

Fourteen Asian and Western diplomats who spoke to Reuters for this story said they were alarmed at attempts by Hong Kong prosecutors to treat links between local politicians and foreign envoys as potential national security threats.<\/p>\n

In April, a judge cited emails from the U.S. mission to former democratic legislator Jeremy Tam as a reason to deny him bail on a charge of conspiracy to commit subversion. Tam, one of 47 pro-democracy politicians charged, is in jail awaiting trial; his lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s appalling that people would take a routine interaction with a foreign government representative and attribute something sinister to it,\u201d Smith said, adding that the consulate did not want to put anyone in an \u201cawkward situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the latest ratcheting up of tensions with Western nations, Hong Kong on Friday slammed a U.K. government report that said Beijing was using the security law to \u201cdrastically curtail freedoms\u201d in the city.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong authorities also this week lambasted the European Union for denouncing Hong Kong\u2019s recent overhaul of its political system.<\/p>\n

\u2018TOUGH CASES\u2019 LOOM<\/p>\n

Although local officials said last year the security law would only affect a \u201ctiny minority\u201d of people, more than 100 have been arrested under the law, which has affected education, media, civil society and religious freedoms among other areas, according to those interviewed for this story.<\/p>\n

Some have raised concerns that the provisions would hurt the business community, a suggestion Ip dismissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they have nothing to worry about unless they are bent on using external forces to harm Hong Kong,\u201d Ip said. \u201cI speak to a lot of businessmen who are very bullish about the economic situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retired judges familiar with cases such as Jeremy Tam\u2019s said they were shocked at the broad use of foreign connections by prosecutors. One told Reuters he did not see how that approach would be sustainable, as the government accredits diplomats, whose job is to meet people, including politicians.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s judiciary said it would not comment on individual cases.<\/p>\n

Smith said Hong Kong\u2019s growing atmosphere of \u201cfear, coercion and uncertainty\u201d put the special administrative region\u2019s future in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very distressing to this relentless onslaught on Hong Kong\u2019s freedoms and back-tracking on the commitment that was made to preserve Hong Kong\u2019s autonomy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The top U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong said the imposition of a new national security law had created an \u201catmosphere of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":116265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nExclusive-China's attacks on 'foreign forces' threaten Hong Kong's global standing -top U.S. envoy - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/exclusive-chinas-attacks-on-foreign-forces-threaten-hong-kongs-global-standing-top-u-s-envoy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive-China's attacks on 'foreign forces' threaten Hong Kong's global standing -top U.S. envoy - 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