It is likely that the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law will be passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Tuesday and take effect immediately. Correspondingly the U.S. government had already announced targeted sanctioning measures earlier on, and the U.S. Senate has swiftly passed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, a legislation much tougher than the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. An informant from the professional sector said that the business and financial sectors were more concerned about the Hong Kong Autonomy Act than the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The Autonomy Act allows the U.S. administration to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and companies, and the sanctions could be extended to the banks that do business with them. “Many people in the business sector hope that it is just a bluff by the U.S. If they are serious about imposing sanctions with this legislation, it will be a hard blow to the business sector in Hong Kong.”

The informant said that the threshold for implementing the Autonomy Act was even lower than the Human Rights and Democracy Act. “The Department of State can initiate sanctions on people and companies who contribute to China’s failure to comply with the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. That very much means they can do whatever they want.” The Act also allows of targeted sanctions on individuals or companies, and the banks that do business with them. “Banks that do business with them could be sanctioned. Unless a bank is prepared to be completely cut off from the U.S. financial system, it wouldn’t take the risk of doing business with the sanctioned parties.”

Legislator Felix Chung of the Liberal Party representing the business sector has commented earlier that the Act was “extremely harsh”. “Chung’s comment represented the voice of many local pro-government businessmen. The Act poses serious risks to them as they will lose their business if they are sanctioned by the U.S. government.” A friend from the business sector told our informant that he hoped the U.S. was just bluffing, and that they would not really want to impose sanctions with this Act and damage the interests of Sino-American trade.

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