Hong Kong Autonomy Act

116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3798 AN ACT To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons involved in the erosion of certain obligations of China with respect to Hong Kong, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 † S 3798 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Hong Kong Autonomy Act’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Findings. Sec. 4. Sense of Congress regarding Hong Kong. Sec. 5. Identification of foreign persons involved in the erosion of the obliga- tions of China under the Joint Declaration or the Basic Law and foreign financial institutions that conduct significant transactions with those persons. Sec. 6. Sanctions with respect to foreign persons that contravene the obliga- tions of China under the Joint Declaration or the Basic Law. Sec. 7. Sanctions with respect to foreign financial institutions that conduct sig- nificant transactions with foreign persons that contravene the obligations of China under the Joint Declaration or the Basic Law. Sec. 8. Waiver, termination, exceptions, and congressional review process. Sec. 9. Implementation; penalties. Sec. 10. Rule of construction. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) ALIEN; NATIONAL; NATIONAL OF THE 8 UNITED STATES.—The terms ‘‘alien’’, ‘‘national’’, 9 and ‘‘national of the United States’’ have the mean- 10 ings given those terms in section 101 of the Immi- 11 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 12 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 13 TEES AND LEADERSHIP.—The term ‘‘appropriate 14 congressional committees and leadership’’ means— 15 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 16 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 17 3 † S 3798 ES Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 1 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov- 2 ernmental Affairs, the Committee on the Judi- 3 ciary, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and 4 the majority leader and the minority leader of 5 the Senate; and 6 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 7 Committee on Financial Services, the Com- 8 mittee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 9 Homeland Security, the Committee on the Judi- 10 ciary, the Permanent Select Committee on In- 11 telligence, and the Speaker and the minority 12 leader of the House of Representatives. 13 (3) BASIC LAW.—The term ‘‘Basic Law’’ means 14 the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Adminis- 15 trative Region of the People’s Republic of China. 16 (4) CHINA.—The term ‘‘China’’ means the Peo- 17 ple’s Republic of China. 18 (5) ENTITY.—The term ‘‘entity’’ means a part- 19 nership, joint venture, association, corporation, orga- 20 nization, network, group, or subgroup, or any other 21 form of business collaboration. 22 (6) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi- 23 nancial institution’’ means a financial institution 24 4 † S 3798 ES specified in section 5312(a)(2) of title 31, United 1 States Code. 2 (7) HONG KONG.—The term ‘‘Hong Kong’’ 3 means the Hong Kong Special Administrative Re- 4 gion of the People’s Republic of China. 5 (8) JOINT DECLARATION.—The term ‘‘Joint 6 Declaration’’ means the Joint Declaration of the 7 Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 8 and Northern Ireland and the Government of the 9 People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong 10 Kong, done at Beijing on December 19, 1984. 11 (9) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 12 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 13 means that a person has actual knowledge of the 14 conduct, the circumstance, or the result. 15 (10) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an 16 individual or entity. 17 (11) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 18 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 19 (A) any citizen or national of the United 20 States; 21 (B) any alien lawfully admitted for perma- 22 nent residence in the United States; 23 (C) any entity organized under the laws of 24 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 25 5 † S 3798 ES United States (including a foreign branch of 1 such an entity); or 2 (D) any person located in the United 3 States. 4 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 5 Congress makes the following findings: 6 (1) The Joint Declaration and the Basic Law 7 clarify certain obligations and promises that the 8 Government of China has made with respect to the 9 future of Hong Kong. 10 (2) The obligations of the Government of China 11 under the Joint Declaration were codified in a le- 12 gally-binding treaty, signed by the Government of 13 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 14 Ireland and registered with the United Nations. 15 (3) The obligations of the Government of China 16 under the Basic Law originate from the Joint Dec- 17 laration, were passed into the domestic law of China 18 by the National People’s Congress, and are widely 19 considered by citizens of Hong Kong as part of the 20 de facto legal constitution of Hong Kong. 21 (4) Foremost among the obligations of the Gov- 22 ernment of China to Hong Kong is the promise that, 23 pursuant to Paragraph 3b of the Joint Declaration, 24 ‘‘the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will 25 6 † S 3798 ES enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign 1 and defence affairs which are the responsibilities of 2 the Central People’s Government’’. 3 (5) The obligation specified in Paragraph 3b of 4 the Joint Declaration is referenced, reinforced, and 5 extrapolated on in several portions of the Basic Law, 6 including Articles 2, 12, 13, 14, and 22. 7 (6) Article 22 of the Basic Law establishes that 8 ‘‘No department of the Central People’s Government 9 and no province, autonomous region, or municipality 10 directly under the Central Government may interfere 11 in the affairs which the Hong Kong Special Admin- 12 istrative Region administers on its own in accord- 13 ance with this Law.’’. 14 (7) The Joint Declaration and the Basic Law 15 make clear that additional obligations shall be un- 16 dertaken by China to ensure the ‘‘high degree of au- 17 tonomy’’ of Hong Kong. 18 (8) Paragraph 3c of the Joint Declaration 19 states, as reinforced by Articles 2, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 22 of the Basic Law, that Hong Kong ‘‘will be 21 vested with executive, legislative and independent ju- 22 dicial power, including that of final adjudication’’. 23 (9) On multiple occasions, the Government of 24 China has undertaken actions that have contravened 25 7 † S 3798 ES the letter or intent of the obligation described in 1 paragraph (8) of this section, including the fol- 2 lowing: 3 (A) In 1999, the Standing Committee of 4 the National People’s Congress overruled a de- 5 cision by the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal 6 on the right of abode. 7 (B) On multiple occasions, the Government 8 of Hong Kong, at the advice of the Government 9 of China, is suspected to have not allowed per- 10 sons entry into Hong Kong allegedly because of 11 their support for democracy and human rights 12 in Hong Kong and China. 13 (C) The Liaison Office of China in Hong 14 Kong has, despite restrictions on interference in 15 the affairs of Hong Kong as detailed in Article 16 22 of the Basic Law— 17 (i) openly expressed support for can- 18 didates in Hong Kong for Chief Executive 19 and Legislative Council; 20 (ii) expressed views on various policies 21 for the Government of Hong Kong and 22 other internal matters relating to Hong 23 Kong; and 24 8 † S 3798 ES (iii) on April 17, 2020, asserted that 1 both the Liaison Office of China in Hong 2 Kong and the Hong Kong and Macau Af- 3 fairs Office of the State Council ‘‘have the 4 right to exercise supervision . . . on affairs 5 regarding Hong Kong and the mainland, 6 in order to ensure correct implementation 7 of the Basic Law’’. 8 (D) The National People’s Congress has 9 passed laws requiring Hong Kong to pass laws 10 banning disrespectful treatment of the national 11 flag and national anthem of China. 12 (E) The State Council of China released a 13 white paper on June 10, 2014, that stressed 14 the ‘‘comprehensive jurisdiction’’ of the Govern- 15 ment of China over Hong Kong and indicated 16 that Hong Kong must be governed by ‘‘patri- 17 ots’’. 18 (F) The Government of China has directed 19 operatives to kidnap and bring to the mainland, 20 or is otherwise responsible for the kidnapping 21 of, residents of Hong Kong, including business- 22 man Xiao Jianhua and bookseller Gui Minhai. 23 (G) The Government of Hong Kong, acting 24 with the support of the Government of China, 25 9 † S 3798 ES introduced an extradition bill that would have 1 permitted the Government of China to request 2 and enforce extradition requests for any indi- 3 vidual present in Hong Kong, regardless of the 4 legality of the request or the degree to which it 5 compromised the judicial independence of Hong 6 Kong. 7 (H) The spokesman for the Standing Com- 8 mittee of the National People’s Congress said, 9 ‘‘Whether Hong Kong’s laws are consistent 10 with the Basic Law can only be judged and de- 11 cided by the National People’s Congress Stand- 12 ing Committee. No other authority has the 13 right to make judgments and decisions.’’. 14 (10) Paragraph 3e of the Joint Declaration 15 states, as reinforced by Article 5 of the Basic Law, 16 that the ‘‘current social and economic systems in 17 Hong Kong will remain unchanged, as so will the 18 life-style.’’. 19 (11) On multiple occasions, the Government of 20 China has undertaken actions that have contravened 21 the letter or intent of the obligation described in 22 paragraph (10) of this section, including the fol- 23 lowing: 24 10 † S 3798 ES (A) In 2002, the Government of China 1 pressured the Government of Hong Kong to in- 2 troduce ‘‘patriotic’’ curriculum in primary and 3 secondary schools. 4 (B) The governments of China and Hong 5 Kong proposed the prohibition of discussion of 6 Hong Kong independence and self-determina- 7 tion in primary and secondary schools, which 8 infringes on freedom of speech. 9 (C) The Government of Hong Kong man- 10 dated that Mandarin, and not the native lan- 11 guage of Cantonese, be the language of instruc- 12 tion in Hong Kong schools. 13 (D) The governments of China and Hong 14 Kong agreed to a daily quota of mainland im- 15 migrants to Hong Kong, which is widely be- 16 lieved by citizens of Hong Kong to be part of 17 an effort to ‘‘mainlandize’’ Hong Kong. 18 (12) Paragraph 3e of the Joint Declaration 19 states, as reinforced by Articles 4, 26, 27, 28, 29, 20 30, 31, 32 33, 34, and 39 of the Basic Law, that 21 the ‘‘rights and freedoms, including those of person, 22 of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, 23 of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, 24 of choice of occupation, of academic research and of 25 11 † S 3798 ES religious belief will be ensured by law’’ in Hong 1 Kong. 2 (13) On multiple occasions, the Government of 3 China has undertaken actions that have contravened 4 the letter or intent of the obligation described in 5 paragraph (12) of this section, including the fol- 6 lowing: 7 (A) On February 26, 2003, the Govern- 8 ment of Hong Kong introduced a national secu- 9 rity bill that would have placed restrictions on 10 freedom of speech and other protected rights. 11 (B) The Liaison Office of China in Hong 12 Kong has pressured businesses in Hong Kong 13 not to advertise in newspapers and magazines 14 critical of the governments of China and Hong 15 Kong. 16 (C) The Hong Kong Police Force selec- 17 tively blocked demonstrations and protests ex- 18 pressing opposition to the governments of China 19 and Hong Kong or the policies of those govern- 20 ments. 21 (D) The Government of Hong Kong re- 22 fused to renew work visa for a foreign jour- 23 nalist, allegedly for hosting a speaker from the 24 banned Hong Kong National Party. 25 12 † S 3798 ES (E) The Justice Department of Hong 1 Kong selectively prosecuted cases against lead- 2 ers of the Umbrella Movement, while failing to 3 prosecute police officers accused of using exces- 4 sive force during the protests in 2014. 5 (F) On April 18, 2020, the Hong Kong 6 Police Force arrested 14 high-profile democracy 7 activists and campaigners for their role in orga- 8 nizing a protest march that took place on Au- 9 gust 18, 2019, in which almost 2,000,000 peo- 10 ple rallied against a proposed extradition bill. 11 (14) Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law assert 12 that the selection of Chief Executive and all mem- 13 bers of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong should 14 be by ‘‘universal suffrage.’’. 15 (15) On multiple occasions, the Government of 16 China has undertaken actions that have contravened 17 the letter or intent of the obligation described in 18 paragraph (14) of this section, including the fol- 19 lowing: 20 (A) In 2004, the National People’s Con- 21 gress created new, antidemocratic procedures 22 restricting the adoption of universal suffrage 23 for the election of the Chief Executive of Hong 24 Kong. 25 13 † S 3798 ES (B) The decision by the National People’s 1 Congress on December 29, 2007, which ruled 2 out universal suffrage in 2012 elections and set 3 restrictions on when and if universal suffrage 4 will be implemented. 5 (C) The decision by the National People’s 6 Congress on August 31, 2014, which placed 7 limits on the nomination process for the Chief 8 Executive of Hong Kong as a condition for 9 adoption of universal suffrage. 10 (D) On November 7, 2016, the National 11 People’s Congress interpreted Article 104 of the 12 Basic Law in such a way to disqualify 6 elected 13 members of the Legislative Council. 14 (E) In 2018, the Government of Hong 15 Kong banned the Hong Kong National Party 16 and blocked the candidacy of pro-democracy 17 candidates. 18 (16) The ways in which the Government of 19 China, at times with the support of a subservient 20 Government of Hong Kong, has acted in contraven- 21 tion of its obligations under the Joint Declaration 22 and the Basic Law, as set forth in this section, are 23 deeply concerning to the people of Hong Kong, the 24 United States, and members of the international 25 14 † S 3798 ES community who support the autonomy of Hong 1 Kong. 2 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING HONG KONG. 3 It is the sense of Congress that— 4 (1) the United States continues to uphold the 5 principles and policy established in the United 6 States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 7 5701 et seq.) and the Hong Kong Human Rights 8 and Democracy Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–76; 9 22 U.S.C. 5701 note), which remain consistent with 10 China’s obligations under the Joint Declaration and 11 certain promulgated [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]