The Hong Kong government Thursday brushed off a United States commission report that urges Congress to reconsider U.S. preferential treatment of Hong Kong in trade of some products as the territory is becoming just another Chinese city under Beijing's growing influence.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, in a section on Hong Kong, recommended Congress direct the government to re-examine U.S. export control policy for dual-use technology with regard to Hong Kong, which is currently treated as a separate customs area from China.
As proof that Hong Kong's autonomy is being encroached by Beijing, the report to Congress cited: Beijing's involvement in the Hong Kong government's rejecting a fugitive extradition request from the United States; Beijing denying permission for a U.S. navy ship to make a routine port call in Hong Kong; Hong Kong's banning of a political party advocating for independence; and its rejection of the visa renewal application by the vice president of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club, Victor Mallet, apparently in retaliation for the club hosting the head of that pro-independence party as a speaker.