News / Foreign Policy / China

US ends extradition treaty with Hong Kong amid escalating tensions with China

Thursday, 20 August 2020 6:53 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 20 August 2020 10:52 AM ]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faces the news media at the State Department in Washington, US, August 19, 2020. (Photo by Reuters)

The United States has suspended three bilateral agreements with Hong Kong related to extradition and tax exemptions, in yet another move that escalates tensions with China.

US State Department said it notified Hong Kong on Wednesday that the administration has suspended or terminated “the surrender of fugitive offenders, the transfer of sentenced persons, and reciprocal tax exemptions on income derived from the international operation of ships.”

The move follows President Donald Trump’s executive order last month to end Hong Kong's special status under US law in reaction to the enactment of a uniform national security law in Hong Kong.

"These steps underscore our deep concern regarding Beijing's decision to impose the National Security Law, which has crushed the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

Washington described Hong Kong’s new security law as "oppressive actions" against the former British colony.

The new law punishes crimes of secession, subversion, and collusion with foreign forces with sentences of up to life in prison in Hong Kong.

Under the law, mainland security agencies are also officially based in Hong Kong for the first time since 1997, when the city’s rule returned from Britain to China.

Hong Kong leader: US sanctions no more than a personal inconvenience

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam says she is not upset about the sanctions imposed by the United States against her, vowing to continue to do what is right for the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

Hong Kong has been governed under the “one-country, two-system” model since then, meaning that Chinese sovereignty is applied to the city even as it has its own government.

The US also imposed sanctions this month on Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and other current and former Hong Kong and mainland officials over what it describes as curtailing political freedom in the financial hub.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China in a Twitter post on Wednesday of choosing “to crush the freedoms and autonomy of the people of Hong Kong.”

He said because of those actions, “We are terminating or suspending three of our bilateral agreements with the territory.”

Relations between the US and China have deteriorated to their worst level in recent months.

China to reciprocate US sanctions after Trump ends Hong Kong special status

China says it will slap retaliatory sanctions on the United States over President Donald Trump’s decision to end Hong Kong’s special status and impose sanctions on Chinese officials in relation to the semi-autonomous city.

A political scientist from the University of Chicago, Dali L. Yang, said what is happening between Washington and Beijing “is truly a tug of war in terms of mutual actions against each other.”

China also threatened to slap retaliatory sanctions on the US, urging The Trump administration to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.

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