The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) condemned the US House of Representatives on Wednesday for using its Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act to “slander laws on safeguarding national security” and “smear the human rights situation” in Hong Kong.

The bill, which passed the House 413-3, seeks to remove certain diplomatic privileges currently extended to Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the US if the HKSAR “no longer enjoys a high degree of autonomy from the People’s Republic of China” (PRC). The act in its current form will require the US president to periodically determine whether HKETOs in the US should be allowed to continue operating. The Hong Kong government criticized the bill as a “fact-twisting” and politically driven attack on the city that violates international law and interferes in Hong Kong’s affairs. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) claims that China will take “strong and resolute countermeasures” if the bill is not stopped.

The Certification Act was first introduced in February 2023, three years after the initial implementation of the controversial Beijing-imposed National Security Law (NSL) that intensified concerns about human rights in Hong Kong and the Special Administrative Region (SAR)’s continued autonomy under China. This year, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed its own new security law under Article 23 of the city’s constitution. While the text of the Certification Act does not directly mention the National Security Law or Article 23 in its text, the HKSAR government argued that the Certification Act slandered the “just and legitimate objective” of these laws. The government further viewed the Act as “self-deception” which set “double standards,” asserting that the US has the “most stringent national security legislation.”

The Certification Act was introduced in the House by Representative Christopher H. Smith, the Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). In a press release, Representative Smith, along with CECC co-chair Senator Jeff Merkley, claimed that while the HKETOs were intended to act as “official representative offices” of an autonomous HKSAR under the “one country, two systems” framework, the arrangement has been “obliterated” by the PRC and the offices now appear to be “mere appendages” of the Chinese government. The chairs said:

This bill recognizes the sad reality that the civil and political freedoms once enjoyed by the Hong Kong people, and guaranteed by international law, are fast receding. HKETOs have become additional diplomatic outposts of the PRC and allowed to freely push a nothing-to-see-here narrative about Hong Kong. When there are hundreds of political prisoners in this former outpost of freedom, such a message is pure propaganda.

For its part, the HKSAR government claims that it properly protects the rule of law and human rights while maintaining international economic and trade relations in accordance with the “one country, two systems” framework. “Law enforcement actions taken by HKSAR law enforcement agencies, including those taken under the NSL, the SNSO and other Hong Kong laws, are based on evidence and strictly in accordance with the law, and have nothing to do with the occupation, background or political stance of the persons concerned,” it said. Alongside China’s MFA, the Hong Kong government also emphasized the trade and cultural benefits of the HKETOs, noting the significant trade surplus from Hong Kong to the US.

Hong Kong maintains 14 HKETOs around the world, three of which are in the US. In May, a manager of the HKETO in London was arrested by British authorities alongside two other men for assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service. The Chinese Embassy in London denied the allegations and accused the UK of fabricating the case.