HONG KONG/BEIJING – The central government and Hong Kong Special Administration Region government officials on Wednesday lashed out at the United States Congress for a “fact-twisting” and “politically-driven” maneuver perpetrated on the city by advancing a bill that advocates the closure of  Hong Kong’s three Economic and Trade Offices in the US.

On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives passed the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act, demanding the executive branch revoke the privileges and exemptions enjoyed by the offices, citing the“severe undermining”of Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms.

The bill also needs to pass through the Senate before being signed into law by President Joe Biden.

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A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said China is strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposes the US moves in manipulating Hong Kong-related issues and suppressing the SAR’s development.

Speaking at a regular press conference in Beijing, Mao Ning said HKETO is an overseas economic and trade organization set up by the HKSAR government and its successful and smooth operation is conducive to expanding practical economic and trade cooperation between Hong Kong and relevant countries and regions with win-win results.

The bill politicizes and instrumentalizes normal economic and trade cooperation, deliberately discredits Hong Kong's overseas institutions, and is of a very bad nature, she said.

Hong Kong is the second-largest source of trade surplus for the US, and more than 1,200 US enterprises have invested in the SAR, according to Mao. Such a move by the US will only end up harming its own interests, she said.

China has lodged solemn representations with the US over this, she added.

"China urges the United States to stop advancing the bill, so as not to cause greater harm to the stability and development of China-US relations," said Mao, adding that should the US insist on going its own way, China will take practical and effective countermeasures.  

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry said that the SAR government’s overseas economic and trade offices serve as official representatives of the SAR in New York, San Francisco and Washington.

The successful operation of such offices benefits the expansion of Hong Kong’s economic and trade cooperation with relevant countries and regions, with the three in the US also playing a proactive role in promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between the HKSAR and the US.

Still upholding the “Cold War mentality”, the US has attempted to politicize economic and trade issues and use them as a weapon to contain China, even at the cost of harming the interests of US and other enterprises, the spokesperson said.

Such actions disrupt and damage normal exchanges and cooperation between the SAR and the US, further disrupting the normalization process of relations between China and US.

The spokesperson further noted that in fact, the US enjoys significant economic benefits in Hong Kong. The US has realized a trade surplus of $271.5 billion with Hong Kong during the past 10 years, the largest among its global trading partners, and more than 1,200 US companies have set up businesses in the city.

In a written statement released on Wednesday, the SAR government said the Act is a self-deception of double standards, and Hong Kong refutes such action resolutely and condemns it strongly.

Despite the US having the most stringent national security legislation, the Act slanders the just and legitimate objective of the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

It also disregards the constitutional obligation and inherent rights of the HKSAR to safeguard national security, smears the fact that human rights and the rule of law are properly protected in accordance with the law by the HKSAR government, and grossly interferes in the affairs of Hong Kong.

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Such a political maneuver not only maliciously attacks the work of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the US on promoting normal economic and trade relations and cultural exchanges, but further advocates for their closure, severely damaging the normal economic and trade relations.

The Hong Kong government said the three offices in the US will continue to promote Hong Kong’s unique advantages, tell the good stories of Hong Kong and, where necessary, refute erroneous reports and clarify misconceptions, so as to foster economic and trade relations and cooperation on different fronts between Hong Kong and the US on a mutually beneficial basis.

Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com