US warns of ‘growing risks’ for business in blow to Hong Kong

WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday warned its business community of growing risks of operating in Hong Kong due to China’s clampdown, putting new pressure as a growing number of Western companies consider abandoning the historic financial hub.

The United States also imposed sanctions on seven more Chinese officials in Hong Kong as it vowed there would be a price for Beijing’s imposition of a draconian security law a year ago.

“Beijing has chipped away at Hong Kong’s reputation of accountable, transparent governance and respect for individual freedoms and has broken its promise to leave Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy unchanged for 50 years,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“Today we send a clear message that the United States resolutely stands with Hong Kongers,” Blinken said. In a long-awaited advisory that has already been denounced by China, US government agencies led by the State Department told entrepreneurs that they face “growing risks” in Hong Kong.

The changing environment “could adversely affect businesses and individuals operating in Hong Kong,” it said.

“As a result of these changes, they should be aware of potential reputational, regulatory, financial and, in certain instances, legal risks associated with their Hong Kong operations.”

The advisory acknowledged that Hong Kong, a former British colony handed back to China in 1997, “retains many economic distinctions” from the mainland including stronger protections of intellectual property.

But it pointed to a declining climate under the national security law including the arrest of one US citizen — John Clancey, a prominent human rights lawyer.

China imposed the security law in June 2020 after massive and sometimes destructive protests that demanded the preservation of fundamental rights promised to the city before the handover.

Dozens of people have been charged under the law, which bans subversion and other offenses against the state, including the media tycoon Jimmy Lai, former lawmakers and pro-democracy activists.