US lets Hong Kong emergency expire but keeps preferential treatment restrictions
State Department says 2020 order remains in effect as city still lacks sufficient autonomy for different treatment from mainland China
The Hong Kong government on Friday welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to allow a national emergency declaration concerning the city to expire, although Washington said the executive order that ended the city’s preferential treatment remains in effect.
The declaration, which underpinned Washington’s decision to end Hong Kong’s preferential treatment in areas including trade and export controls, expired this week after US President Donald Trump did not renew it for another year.
“The president has allowed the national emergency to end, but Executive Order 13936 otherwise remains in effect,” a State Department spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said Washington continued to regard Hong Kong as “no longer sufficiently autonomous to justify differential treatment in relation to the [China]” under the US laws and provisions specified in the order.
The clarification indicates that the expiration of the emergency will not automatically restore Hong Kong’s special treatment in areas including trade and export controls.
The US Treasury noted on its website that the expiration did not apply to or affect two related US laws, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 or the Hong Kong Autonomy Act of 2020.
