China suspends US army’s Hong Kong visits in response to new law – By Al Jazeera Newsroom (Al Jazeera) / Dec 2 2019
Sanctions by China follow the US President Donald Trump signing into law the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democratic Act.
China has suspended US warship visits and sanctioned several American non-government organisations in retaliation for the passage of a bill backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
“In response to the unreasonable behaviour of the US side, the Chinese government has decided to suspend reviewing the applications for US warships to go to Hong Kong for [rest and] recuperation as of today,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing on Monday.
“We urge the US to correct the mistakes and stop interfering in our internal affairs. China will take further steps if necessary to uphold Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity and China’s sovereignty,” she said.
Last week, US President Donald Trumpsigned the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which requires the president to annually review the city’s favourable trade status and threatens to revoke it if the semi-autonomous territory’s freedoms are quashed.
The move came as the world’s two biggest economies have been striving to finalise a “phase one” deal in their protracted trade war.
China had already denied requests for two US Navy ships to dock in Hong Kong in August, without specifying a reason why.
Continue to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/china-sanctions-army-hong-kong-visits-response-law-191202093610265.html
Pro-democracy protesters holding US national flags take part in a ‘March of gratitude to the US’ [File:Miguel Candela/EPA]
