Trump strips Hong Kong of all preferential treatment after China gazumps its autonomy

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed legislation to impose sanctions on China in response to its interference with Hong Kong’s autonomy. Trump also signed an executive order ending the preferential treatment given to Hong Kong by the US. The 'Hong Kong Autonomy Act' was passed unanimously through Congress, Trump added.  

Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China with no special privileges, no special economic treatment, and no export of sensitive technologies, the President said during his speech in the White House Rose Garden.

"Today, I signed legislation and an executive order to hold China accountable for its oppressive actions against the people of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Autonomy Act which I signed this afternoon passed unanimously through Congress, Trump said.

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The US President further asserted that the law gives his administration powerful new tools to hold responsible the individuals and the entities involved in extinguishing Hong Kong's freedom. "We have all watched what happened, not a good situation. Their freedom and rights have been taken away," the President said.

He further informed that his administration has confronted untrustworthy Chinese technology and telecom providers. "We convinced many countries not to use Huawei because it's a big security risk. Just today, the UK announced that they are not going to be using it," he said.

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WHO puppet to China: Trump

Trump further slammed the World Health Organisation for being a puppet to China and also continued to blame China for the spread of novel coronavirus globally that has affected the United States severely.

"They (WHO) were really a puppet of China. And make no mistake, we hold China fully responsible for concealing the virus and unleashing it upon the world. They could’ve stopped it.  They should’ve stopped it.  It would’ve been very easy to do at the source when it happened, Trump said.

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When asked about the last time he spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said he had no recent conversation with his China counterpart and is not planning to do so anytime soon."I haven't spoken to him (Chinese President) in a while, I have no plan to speak to him", he said.

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