The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act could become another obstacle to a trade deal between the U.S. and China
, sources and diplomatic observers said on Thursday, with Beijing closely watching developments.While U.S. President Donald Trump is not expected to veto the bill, which enjoys broad bipartisan support, even the symbolic aspects may carry an extra significance — with a high-profile signing ceremony likely to further anger the Chinese government.“The Hong Kong issue has the potential to influence the process of the trade talks.
While the negotiation teams remain in contact, the Hong Kong bill has become a fresh source of tension after it passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the White House for Trump to sign. On Wednesday China lodged a protest over the bill with William Klein, the U.S. diplomat responsible for political affairs at the embassy in Beijing, while Hanscom Smith, the U.S. consul general in Hong Kong, was also summoned to a meeting with the Chinese foreign ministry commissioner Xie Feng.
Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said the two nations were already dealing with a number of areas of contention, ranging from economics and politics to social issues. “It is a sheer self-serving politics on the part of the U.S. I don’t think they really care about what is happening in Hong Kong, partly they hope Hong Kong’s turmoil will continue,” Hu said.
Sources said the main point of contention was that both sides had yet to agree on how many tariffs should be removed on each other’s products and the conditions for doing so.
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