State of Emergency Regarding Hong Kong

US President Joe Biden decided on Wednesday to extend until 14 July 2022 the so-called state of emergency for Hong Kong. The White House press office circulated the relevant document.

"The situation in Hong Kong, including China's recent actions to undermine Hong Kong's autonomy, continues to pose an extraordinary threat to US national security, foreign policy and the economy. For this reason, the national emergency regime declared on July 14, 2020, must continue beyond July 14, 2021," the text reads. Therefore, I am extending the national emergency regime for one year for the situation in Hong Kong".

On 14 July 2020, then US President Donald Trump announced that he had signed a bill to sanction China over the situation in Hong Kong, as well as an executive order cancelling the United States' trade and economic preferences for this special administrative region of the PRC.

Under the provisions of the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, since 1 July 1997 under the concept of "one country, two systems", the PRC government has become responsible for the foreign policy and defence of the autonomy. Hong Kong largely enjoys the right of self-government: it exercises administrative, legislative and judicial powers. The UK and other Western countries accuse Beijing of violating the declaration by starting to reform Hong Kong's electoral system and passing a national security law. China attributes these measures to the need to combat separatism, terrorism and undermining of state power and warns foreign states against interfering in China's domestic politics.