the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

“ Officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau regularly attended court hearings and trials of defendants charged with offenses designated as involving "national security." The U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau maintains a list, based on publicly available sources, of all individuals and organizations in Hong Kong arrested, charged, or found guilty in connection with offenses designated as involving "national security." ”

“ Impact on Freedom of the Press The Basic Law provides for freedom of the press, which is guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, but actions by the police and security services increasingly threatened it. Local and international media outlets operating in Hong Kong were active and expressed a wide range of views, but there were credible reports the HKPF and PRC national security forces harassed, threatened, and arrested some journalists and media organization employees. ”

“ An estimated 85,000 U.S. citizens live in Hong Kong, while 1.3 million visited or transited in 2017. Hong Kong remains one of the safest cities in the world, with low rates of crime, in part due to the admirable effectiveness and integrity of its police force. Approximately 127,000 Hong Kong residents visit the United States each year, and the number of direct flights between Hong Kong and the United States, which has reached more than 20 flights per day, is continuing to expand. ”

“ Once travel resumed, however, some U.S. citizens with ties to people or organizations that have been critical of the Hong Kong or PRC central governments were held and questioned by immigration authorities upon entering Hong Kong regarding their local contacts. Since the imposition of the NSL in June 2020, the PRC increasingly exercised police and security power in Hong Kong, subjecting U.S. citizens who are publicly critical of the PRC to a heightened risk of arrest, detention, expulsion, or prosecution in Hong Kong. ”

“ For example, in April 2021, a Hong Kong court convicted veteran pro-democracy activists including Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, Jimmy Lai, and Lee Cheuk-yan of unauthorized assembly for their participation in a nonviolent August 2019 protest. Authorities arrested 33 people and filed charges against 30 during the covered period in connection with commemorations of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 2020 or 2021. In September 2021, seven pro-democracy activists were sentenced to up to 16 months in jail for their role in an "unauthorized assembly" at the height of the anti-government protests in 2019. ”

“ Freedom of expression remains open in Hong Kong. The Special Administrative Region’s online environment remains free, although journalists assess that many media outlets practice a degree of self-censorship for both commercial and political reasons. Many media outlets are owned by companies with business interests on the Mainland. Further, as noted in the most recent Country Reports on Human Rights, certain Hong Kong and Central Government actions and statements have raised the perceived risks associated with expressing dissenting political views. ”

“ The Hong Kong legal system continued to be based on common-law traditions, though the continued enforcement of the NSL, as well as the NPCSC's December 2022 interpretation of the NSL, raised serious concerns about the judicial system's continued independence. Property rights were well-protected in law and practice. Hong Kong maintained its own currency, pegged to the U.S. dollar. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority set monetary policy autonomously from the People's Bank of China, and Hong Kong's financial regulators continue to act independently from their mainland China counterparts. ”

“ Pro-Beijing lawmakers occupied all but one of the 90 seats in the Legislative Council during the covered period, after electoral changes in 2021 drastically reduced the number of seats filled by direct election and required all candidates running for the Council to receive the approval of the Beijing-dominated Hong Kong Election Committee. Hong Kong authorities took no actions during this period to advance the election of all members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage, which, as with the election of the Chief Executive, the Basic Law also describes as its "ultimate aim." ”

“ Looking specifically at goods trade, in 2017 the United States’ bilateral surplus was $32.5 billion. Hong Kong counted the United States as its second-largest goods trading partner, while Hong Kong ranked ninth-largest among U.S. goods exports destinations. In 2017, Hong Kong was the fourth-largest market for U.S. exports of consumer-oriented agricultural products, valued at $4.3 billion, representing a 10 percent growth from 2016. ”

“ In cases where authorities assert a nexus with national security, there is little to no expectation of a fair trial or associated fair trial guarantees and other applicable legal protections.
Hong Kong and PRC authorities continued to target civil society groups, media companies, activists, journalists, political parties, labor unions, and other individuals and organizations that they accused of being connected to Hong Kong's prodemocracy movement or otherwise critical of the local or central government. ”

“ Hong Kong continues to have a separate vote from mainland China in a number of international organizations and multilateral entities, including the Financial Action Task Force, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the International Olympic Committee, and the World Trade Organization, and participates autonomously in various green finance multilateral fora. ”

“ Beijing-controlled media outlets in Hong Kong regularly accused organizations, including political parties and civil society groups, of being "anti-China" or violating the NSL because of their political opinions. In July 2022, these media outlets accused the opposition Democratic Party of planning to use a fundraising gala to spread "anti-China messages." In August 2022, they accused 11 environmental organizations of supporting protesters during the 2019 prodemocracy protests. ”

“ Activists argued that many of those convicted of crimes like rioting, unlawful assembly, or possession of offensive weapons were not themselves involved in violence but were merely prosecuted because of their attire and presence at protests that later turned violent. In December 2022, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang said that Hong Kong police had almost concluded investigations regarding about 6,000 people arrested but not charged in relation to the protests and would inform them "within weeks" whether they would be charged. ”