§5725 Secretary of State Report Regarding the Autonomy of Hong Kong

Summary

Each year, and along with the report under section 5731, the Secretary of State must send Congress a written statement saying whether Hong Kong should still be treated under U.S. law the same way it was before July 1, 1997. The statement must cover many areas of life and cooperation — such as trade and treaties, law enforcement and extradition, sanctions, export controls and sensitive technologies, other U.S.–Hong Kong cooperation, how Hong Kong’s government makes decisions, civil liberties (like assembly, speech, press, and the internet), the goal of universal suffrage, judicial independence, police and security, education, laws about treason or subversion, rules about political or foreign political groups, and other rights in the UDHR and ICCPR. It must say how much Hong Kong’s autonomy has been reduced by actions of the Government of the People’s Republic of China that break its pledges under the Basic Law or the Joint Declaration, explain how those changes affect U.S.–Hong Kong cooperation, and list any U.S. actions taken in response. The Secretary should take the Joint Declaration into account and may issue extra statements if needed. The Secretary can skip or limit these requirements if doing so is in the national security interests of the United States, but must notify the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee on or before the waiver’s effective date. Parts can be waived when the President issues an Executive Order under section 5722 that suspends particular U.S. laws for Hong Kong, except the requirement to list U.S. actions taken in response.