Chinese Officials Implementing Oppressive Laws against Hong Kong to be put under Sanctions by US

The US Administration has passed legislation that will hold responsible the particular Chinese officials who are implementing any oppressive law against Hong Kong. The US Government has also decided to end any kind of preferential treatment for Hong Kong. This comes on the backdrop of the increasingly tough stance being adopted by the US on China. The US President has also made it clear that the new law will give tools to his administration to impose sanctions on anybody trying to disturb Hong Kong’s freedom.

What is the Hong Kong-China issue?

Hong Kong was a British colony until as late as 1997 and after that, it was handed over to mainland China for the purpose of administration. From then onwards, Hong Kong became one of the Special Administrative Regions of Mainland China. The country is now governed through a mini-constitution known as ‘Basic Law’. It is based on ‘one country, two systems’ theory. Under this, China has guaranteed basic freedom and other human rights for the next 50 years starting from 1997 but in reality, it has not done so. That is the main reason China and Hong Kong have always been in the loggerheads.  The protests started in 2003 and it was followed by ‘Umbrella Revolution’ in 2014. The largest protests till date took place in the country in 2019, against Chinese aggression and unjust policies.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2020