In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. State Department announced that Washington would suspend or eliminate three treaties with the former British colony, including “the transfer of felony offenders, the transfer of convicted persons, and mutual tax exemption on income.”
The US government accuses Beijing of undermining “the high degree of autonomy that (the Chinese government) has promised 50 years to the United Kingdom and the people of Hong Kong under the UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on his official Twitter account that the talks were suspended because the ruling Chinese Communist Party had chosen to “crush the freedoms and autonomy of the people of Hong Kong.”
Since its transfer from Britain to China in 1997, Hong Kong has enjoyed a special trade and security status with the United States, based on Beijing’s high financial hub.
On July 14, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end Hong Kong’s special trade status with the US in response to Beijing’s national security law.
“Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China. No special privileges. No special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies,” he said.
The US is the last country to suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong following the passage of the new security law. Canada, Australia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have all suspended their extradition agreements with the city since the law was passed.
The Chinese government has accused Western countries of ‘seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs and seriously infringing international law.’
“The wrongful actions of Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom to politicize Hong Kong’s judicial cooperation have seriously jeopardized the basis of judicial cooperation … and the preservation of justice and the rule of law,” said a spokesman for the Ministry. of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin on 28 July.
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