Hanscom Smith accuses China of using the law to erode the city’s fundamental freedoms and create an atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship.
US Consul General Hanscom Smith accused China of using the legislation to erode Hong Kong’s fundamental freedoms and create an atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship.
“We want to create an atmosphere that is as free and open as possible, that allows… everyone in Hong Kong to be able to operate in a way that’s free of coercion and intimidation and is consistent with what [they] were promised in the [Sino-British] Joint Declaration,” he said.
“Hong Kong has been a successful economy precisely because of its openness and transparency. When you start undermining that with opaque measures [of] extraterritoriality, vaguely defined criteria, then you start to undermine what makes Hong Kong work.”
After the programme, he said it would be a tragedy if Hong Kong’s popular anti-government protest slogans were banned.
The controversial law Beijing tailor-made for Hong Kong outlaws acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces in the city’s affairs, and carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
