China’s state media and the government of Hong Kong lashed out on Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to end Hong Kong’s special status if Beijing imposes new national security laws on the city, which is bracing for fresh protests.
Mr. Trump on Friday pledged to “take action to revoke Hong Kong’s preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory”, and to impose sanctions on unspecified individuals over Beijing’s new laws on the Asian financial centre.
But China’s state media pushed back, saying this would hurt the United States more than China. “The baton of sanctions that the United States is brandishing will not scare Hong Kong and will not bring China down,” China’s Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily , wrote in a commentary. The Global Times wrote, “China has already prepared for the worst. No matter how far the U.S. goes, China will keep its company.”
In a sign of diplomatic manoeuvring, the U.S. government said it would put one of its prime Hong Kong properties up for sale. A spokesman for the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong said this was part of a global programme that “reinforces the U.S. government’s presence in Hong Kong” through reinvestment in other areas.
