China slams US for offering residents from Hong Kong safe haven

Beijing said the decision amounts to a ”plot to oppose China and stir up trouble in the city.”

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists at a Congress office on Capitol Hill (AFP/Getty Images)

China has launched a stern attack against the US over a decision to provide Hongkongers with a safe haven, in a direct rebuke to the National Security Law imposed by Beijing that threatens to strip the city from its autonomous status.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson in Hong Kong condemned the decision as a “plot to oppose China and stir up trouble in the city”.

China’s anger came hours after US President Joe Biden issued an order allowing people from Hong Kong, who are already US residents, to stay in the country for 18 months as a response to Beijing’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in the city.

There are several thousand people from Hong Kong in the United States who would be eligible to remain and avoid being deported under what is formally known as deferred enforced departure, according to the Department of Homeland Security, cited by AP.

The unidentified foreign ministry spokesperson said that Biden’s order “blatantly interferes with Hong Kong affairs and China’s domestic policies, and tramples on the basic principles of international law and relations”.

In a separate statement, a spokesperson for the Beijing-aligned Hong Kong’s local government said: “The US has prolific laws on national security but chooses to smear the Hong Kong national security law out of political motivation. This is clear hypocrisy and demonstrates double standards.”

China imposed a National Security Law on Hong Kong in 2020.

Since coming into effect last summer, Chinese officials have used the legislation to round up more than 100 politicians and activists, infringe over the longstanding judiciary independence, and force pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, to shut down.

In response, the US has taken several steps, including suspending the extradition treaty with Hong Kong, issuing a warning against doing business in the city, and banning Chinese officials from entering the US and cutting them off from its financial system.

“Given the politically motivated arrests and trials, the silencing of the media, and the diminishing space for elections and democratic opposition, we will continue to take steps in support of people in Hong Kong,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

The US has stepped up pressure on Beijing’s repressive policies in Hong Kong under President Donald Trump administration by imposing sanctions on a selective group of Chinese officials. But critics said these measures stopped short of targeting influential names and the real decision-makers on the Hong Kong issue in the inner circle of President Xi Jinping.

Since taking office in January, China observers say the Biden administration has been focused on implementing legal and financial policies that hit the heart of the city’s echelon.

Last month, Hong Kong activists in the US urged Congress members to pass legislation to provide residents from the city with permanent refugee statutes and the ability to stay temporarily.

Thursday’s decision by President Biden perhaps was aimed as a preemptive move prior to an important meeting by China’s top legislative body, the NPC Standing Committee, to discuss the incorporation of anti-sanctions legal measures in the city’s constitution.

The Chinese foreign ministry said Mr Biden’s move “slandered and smeared Hong Kong’s national security law, nakedly intervened in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs, and blatantly trampled on international law and the basic norms of international relations”.

The statement said China is determined to implement Hong Kong’s governing “one country, two systems” principle.

The principle provides Hong Kong with a degree of autonomy and certain freedoms under the Sino-British joint declaration, the legal basis for handing over Hong Kong to China by the UK in 1997.

Mr Trump said last year that: ”China has replaced One Country, Two Systems with One Country, One System.”

In March, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK considered China to be in a “state of ongoing non-compliance” with the legally binding declaration. This came after mainland China created a pro-Beijing powerful committee to appoint more council members and scan candidates for the city’s legislative council before the upcoming elections in December.