U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Hong Kong no longer qualifies for its special status under U.S. law, unnerving investors worried about the risk to the Chinese-ruled city’s status as a global financial hub.
His comments came after Beijing’s proposal last week to directly impose national security legislation in China’s freest city, stoking global concerns over freedoms in the former British colony and reviving anti-government protests.
China’s National People’s Congress, or parliament, on Thursday approved the decision to go forward with the national security law that would tackle secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference. It is expected to be enacted before September.
Hong Kong’s special status has helped to keep the former British colony one of the world’s premier financial hubs since it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.