WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is expected to issue a blanket warning to U.S. firms about the risks of doing business in Hong Kong as China continues to clamp down on political and economic freedoms in the territory.
“The situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating, and the Chinese government is not keeping its commitment that it made, how it would deal with Hong Kong," Biden said. "And so it is more of an advisory as to what may happen on Hong Kong, it’s as simple as that, and as complicated as that.”' As such, Hong Kong no longer enjoys preferential U.S. trade and commercial privileges and certain officials in Hong Kong have been hit with U.S. sanctions for their actions in cracking down on democracy.
“As a general matter, we seek to ensure that businesses can operate in stable, predictable and fair regulatory environments around the world, and rule of law risks that were formerly limited to mainland China are now increasingly a concern in Hong Kong. That’s of great concern to us. It is of great concern to the American business community. It’s of great concern to the international business community,” he said.