Cardin Proposes Renewal of Hong Kong Sanctions Bill
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., introduced a wide-ranging Hong Kong bill Dec. 9 that would, among other things, reauthorize the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act for five years.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
The 2019 law, which expires Dec. 20, requires the president to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights violations in Hong Kong (see 2409260022).
Cardin’s bill also would codify into U.S. law that Hong Kong will no longer receive different treatment from China except in certain circumstances. The Arms Export Control Act, the Defense Production Act and the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 would apply to Hong Kong the same way they apply to China.
“The United States must strengthen and update its policy to counter the [Chinese] and Hong Kong governments’ erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy and democratic values,” Cardin said.
Cardin’s 41-page proposal, the Hong Kong Policy Act, was referred to the Foreign Relations Committee. Cardin told Export Compliance Daily Dec. 10 he hopes his legislation will gain enough momentum to pass in the waning days of the current Congress. If that does not occur, the package will at least serve as a statement on what the next Congress should do about the Chinese territory, he said.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a reauthorization bill for the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in June, but it has not advanced (see 2406070004).