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Selasa, 14 Juli 2020

China vows retaliation against US over Hong Kong sanctions - CNA

BEIJING: China on Wednesday (Jul 15) said it would retaliate after US President Donald Trump signed into law an Act allowing sanctions on banks over Beijing's clampdown on Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Autonomy Act "maliciously slanders" national security legislation imposed by Beijing on the city, China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"China will make necessary responses to protect its legitimate interests, and impose sanctions on relevant US personnel and entities," the ministry said.

The foreign ministry also said that Beijing strongly opposes the latest US action and urged Washington to stop interfering in China's internal affairs, state television reported.

"Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs and no foreign country has the right to interfere," it said.

READ: Majority of US firms in Hong Kong concerned about security law, says Amcham survey

Trump on Tuesday signed a law penalising banks doing business with Chinese officials who implement the new Hong Kong national security law.

"No special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies," he said.

Critics of the security law fear it will crush the wide-ranging freedoms promised to Hong Kong when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, while supporters say it will bring stability to the city after a year of sometimes violent anti-government protests.

The security law punishes what Beijing broadly defines as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD?

Analysts say that completely ending Hong Kong's special treatment could prove self-defeating for the United States.

Hong Kong was the source of the largest bilateral US goods trade surplus last year, at US$26.1 billion, US Census Bureau data shows.

According to the State Department, 85,000 US citizens lived in Hong Kong in 2018 and more than 1,300 U.S. companies operate there, including nearly every major US financial firm.

The territory is a major destination for US legal and accounting services.

READ: Trump says he is 'not interested' in trade talks with China

The United States began eliminating Hong Kong's special status under US law in late June, halting defense exports and restricting the territory's access to high-technology products as China prepared to enact the security legislation.

In May, Trump responded to China's plans for the security law by saying he was initiating a process to eliminate the special economic treatment that has allowed Hong Kong to remain a global financial center.

He stopped short then of calling for an immediate end to privileges, but said the moves would affect the full range of US agreements with Hong Kong, from an extradition treaty to export controls on dual-use technologies.

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2020-07-15 03:57:52Z
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Organiser of Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries steps down amid Beijing pressure - CNA

HONG KONG: A key organiser of primary elections for Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp said on Wednesday he was stepping down after Beijing said the vote may violate the new national security law and could amount to subversion.

Former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Nok-hin helped organise the weekend poll that saw more than 610,000 people vote in what was widely seen as a symbolic protest against the sweeping legislation imposed on the city by Beijing.

"Withdrawal is the only choice (I have, to) protect myself and others," Au said in a Facebook post.

The primary polls were aimed at selecting democracy candidates to stand in September elections for the Legislative Council, Hong Kong's governing body.

However, the primaries could violate the new national security law, said Beijing's top office in the city, the Hong Kong Liaison Office, the Chinese government agency Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, and the city's leader Carrie Lam.

READ: China warns some Hong Kong primary campaigning may have broken security law

"For those who do not recognise democracy, or do not agree with democratic values, it is difficult to understand the meaning of the primary election," said Benny Tai, another organiser of the pro-democracy polls.

The new security law punishes what Beijing broadly defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison and sees Chinese intelligence agents operating officially in the city for the first time.

Critics of the law fear it will crush wide-ranging freedoms promised to Hong Kong when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, while supporters say it will bring stability to the city after a year of sometimes violent anti-government protests.

READ: Hong Kong national security law - 5 key facts you need to know

The primaries saw a group of young democrats, or "localists" perform strongly, reflecting a potential change of guard to a more radical grouping likely to rile authorities in Beijing.

Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested the vice chairman of the city's Democratic Party, Lo Kin-hei, on charges of unlawful assembly related to anti-government protests in November, he wrote on his Facebook page. He was released on bail.

Hong Kong police said it charged five males aged 21 to 70 with unlawful assembly, without giving names and they will be mentioned in court on Aug 21.

The moves come as US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered an end to Hong Kong's special status under US law to punish China for what he called "oppressive actions" against the former British colony.

"Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China," Trump said.

Commentary: China really wants Hong Kong to succeed

China said on Wednesday it would impose retaliatory sanctions on US individuals and entities after Trump signed a law penalising banks doing business with Chinese officials who implement the new Hong Kong national security law.

In another blow to the city's international status, the New York Times said it would shift part of its Hong Kong office to Seoul, as worries grow that security law would curb media and other freedoms in the city.

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2020-07-15 03:33:45Z
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Opposition’s primary results could mean tougher action from Beijing - South China Morning Post

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Opposition’s primary results could mean tougher action from Beijing South China Morning PostView Full coverage on Google News
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2020-07-15 00:00:10Z
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Chinese professionals shocked by 45% China tax rate consider leaving Hong Kong - The Straits Times

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - Fears of a Hong Kong brain drain are increasing after China moved to tax its citizens' global income, undermining the financial hub's appeal to thousands of bankers and other white-collar workers from the mainland.

Faced with a tax rate as high as 45 per cent - up from about 15 per cent previously - Chinese professionals across Hong Kong are considering moving back home to avoid getting squeezed by both the new levy and sky-high living costs in the former British colony, according to interviews with workers and recruiters.

The prospect of an exodus has upended expectations that mainland talent would help offset any outflow of locals and foreign expatriates from Hong Hong, many of whom are looking to escape the city's controversial new national security legislation.

While it's too early to gauge how many people will ultimately move out, professionals of all stripes now have reasons to leave a city that not long ago was viewed as one of the world's most attractive places to build a career. That risks weighing on Hong Kong's battered economy and further undermining its status as a premier financial center.

The focus on China's new tax regime has intensified in recent weeks after state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Hong Kong told workers who transferred from the mainland to declare their 2019 income so they can start paying taxes at home. Chinese SOEs are also informing employees in other locations such as Singapore, Bloomberg News reported last week.

While Chinese authorities revised the nation's tax rules in January 2019, they only recently disclosed detailed instructions on how to comply - a move that caught many workers off guard.

Some companies may act to soften the blow by boosting salaries, particularly for high-ranking executives, but most employees will likely have to absorb the hit to their take-home pay, according to Feng Ao, president of Wosheng Law Quotient Academy, a consultancy that advises China's banks, insurers and trusts on tax laws."For the vast majority of employees, the chance of giving subsidies and raises depends on the company's profitability," Mr Feng said. "It's unlikely to happen given the global macro environment amid the pandemic."

One senior executive at a Chinese state-owned bank said his tax bills will now probably wipe out the savings he amassed since moving his family to Hong Kong a few years ago. His colleagues have petitioned superiors in Beijing for relief, but have so far failed to gain much traction. Some are considering moving back to China or swapping into a Hong Kong passport if they've lived in the city long enough to qualify, said the banker, who like several people interviewed for this story asked not to be named discussing a sensitive subject.

Hong Kong has granted more than 340,000 immigration visas to people from mainland China over the past five years, government figures show.

Investment bankers in the city typically earn about 25 per cent to 30 per cent more than those in Shanghai, according to recruiters, though much of that extra pay gets whittled away by higher living costs. Hong Kong is the world's sixth-most expensive city for expatriates, compared with 19th for Shanghai and 24th for Beijing, a recent survey by ECA International found.

Some Chinese workers may have little choice but to stick it out in Hong Kong, according to Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA, an advisory firm for expats."There's often a reason why they're working in Hong Kong rather than in mainland China, because it's a better location for them to work in terms of the jobs that they do," Mr Quane said.

Others are hoping they'll stay under the Chinese government's radar. An employee at a major China-backed telecommunications firm said some of her Chinese colleagues who were hired locally are taking a wait-and-see approach and won't declare income voluntarily. Those who relocated from the mainland will likely have their Chinese taxes directly deducted, she said.It's unclear how stringently Chinese authorities will apply the tax laws to citizens who were hired overseas or who don't work for state-owned companies.

China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong and the State Taxation Administration didn't respond to faxes seeking comment.

Donald, an executive at a state-owned Chinese lender in Hong Kong, said his firm is working on a plan to provide interest-free loans or cash payouts to impacted employees, but he doubts the compensation will last beyond a year. Moving back to mainland China has become one of his biggest priorities.

"In a nutshell, my pay is now subject to the high tax rate on the mainland but I need to cover the high cost of living in Hong Kong," he said. "It's a double whammy."

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2020-07-14 23:42:14Z
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Trump says he signed executive order ending preferential treatment for Hong Kong - CNA

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump, hardening his stance on China as he struggles to contain the coronavirus, said on Tuesday (Jul 14) he signed legislation and an executive order to hold China accountable for the "oppressive" national security law it imposed on Hong Kong.

Trump, acting on a Tuesday deadline, signed a Bill approved by the US Congress to penalise banks doing business with Chinese officials who implement Beijing’s new national security law on Hong Kong.

He said he also signed an executive order aimed at furthering punishing China for what he called its "oppressive actions" against Hong Kong.

It will end the preferential trade treatment Hong Kong has received for years - "no special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies," Trump told a news conference.

"Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China," he said.

READ: Majority of US firms in Hong Kong concerned about security law, says Amcham survey

According to a White House fact sheet, the executive order includes revoking special treatment for Hong Kong passport holders.

Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had lunch together at the White House on Tuesday, have blamed China for the spread of the coronavirus pandemic - which China denies - and have criticised Beijing for its Hong Kong crackdown.

Riot police fire tear gas into the crowds to disperse anti-national security law protesters during a march at the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China from Britain. (Photo: Reuters/Tyrone Siu)

The former British colony was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with a law protecting freedom of speech, assembly and the press until 2047.

The legislation Trump signed calls for sanctions on Chinese officials and others who help violate Hong Kong’s autonomy, and financial institutions that do business with those found to have participated in any crackdown on the city.

Trump faces a tough battle for re-election on Nov 3 and his handling of the pandemic has drawn lukewarm support from Americans. Trump has blamed China for not doing enough to stop the spread of the virus.

READ: US withdrawal from WHO over claims of China influence to take effect next July: UN

"Make no mistake. We hold China fully responsible for concealing the virus and unleashing it upon the world. They could have stopped it, they should have stopped it. It would have been very easy to do at the source, when it happened," he said.

In his opening statement in the Rose Garden, Trump took aim at his Democratic rival in the election, former Vice President Joe Biden. Both candidates are constrained from active campaigning by the virus.

Pompeo was sharply critical on Monday of China's military buildup in the South China Sea, saying Beijing had offered no coherent legal basis for its ambitions there and that it had been bullying its neighbours.

“The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire,” Pompeo said.

Trump's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, is in Paris this week for talks with European officials about China and Chinese telecom firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, amid Western concerns that Huawei's technology poses a threat to national security.

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2020-07-14 23:26:15Z
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UK to purge Huawei from 5G by end of 2027, siding with Trump over China - CNA

LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Huawei equipment to be purged completely from Britain's 5G network by the end of 2027, risking the ire of China by signalling that the world's biggest telecoms equipment maker is not welcome in the West.

As Britain prepares to cast off from the European Union, fears over the security of Huawei have forced Johnson to choose between global rivals the United States and China.

He had been under intense pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, while Beijing had warned London, which has sought to court China in recent years, that billions in investment would be at risk if it sided with Washington.

Reversing a January decision to allow Huawei to supply up to 35per cent of the non-core 5G network, Johnson banned British telecoms operators from buying any 5G equipment from Huawei by year-end and gave them seven years to rip out existing gear.

"This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run," digital minister Oliver Dowden told parliament.

"By the time of the next election, we will have implemented in law an irreversible path for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks."

The reason given for the about-turn was the impact of new U.S. sanctions on chip technology, which Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, part of the GCHQ eavesdropping agency, had told ministers meant Huawei was not a reliable supplier.

Tuesday's decision will delay the roll-out of 5G - cast as the nervous system of the future economy - by two to three years, and add costs of up to 2 billion pounds (US$2.5 billion).

The Dec. 31, 2027 deadline will please British telecoms operators such as BT, Vodafone and Three, which had feared they would be forced to spend billions of pounds to rip out Huawei equipment much faster.

Shares in BT, Britain's biggest mobile operator, rose 4per cent.

5G PROXY WAR?

Hanging up on Huawei marks an end to what former Prime Minister David Cameron cast as a "golden era" of ties which saw Britain pushed as Europe's top destination for Chinese capital.

But London has been dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong and the perception China did not tell the whole truth over the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Huawei said the decision was more about U.S. trade policy than security.

"It threatens to move Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the digital divide," a spokesman said.

In what some have compared to the Cold War antagonism with the Soviet Union, the United States is worried that 5G dominance could lead towards Chinese technological supremacy.

After Australia first raised alarms about the risk of 5G being hijacked by a hostile state, the West has become steadily more worried about Huawei. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/huawei-usa-campaign

The United States calls the company an agent of the Chinese Communist state - a view widely supported in Johnson's own Conservative Party. Huawei denies it spies for China and says the United States wants to frustrate its growth because no U.S. company offers the same technology at a competitive price.

HUAWEI ALTERNATIVE?

British ministers say the rise to global dominance of Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former People's Liberation Army engineer, has caught the West off-guard.

Dowden said Britain was working with its intelligence allies to foster a group of rivals to Huawei, naming firms from Finland, Sweden, South Korea and Japan.

"The first thing we need to do is ensure that we protect the other two vendors in this market, so Nokia, and Ericsson," Dowden said. "Secondly we need to get new suppliers in, that starts with Samsung, and it starts with NEC."

Nokia and Ericsson said they stood ready to replace Huawei gear.

By allowing Huawei's equipment to remain in the 5G network until end-2027 and in older mobile networks, Johnson stopped short of demands from some lawmakers for a ban in four years.

China has said targeting its technology flagship would have far-reaching ramifications, and its ambassador to London warned last week that a U-turn on Huawei would send a bad message to other Chinese businesses.

Chinese imports to Britain doubled in the 15 years to 2018, to about 9per cent of all goods imported, worth 43 billion pounds.

(Additional reporting by William James; Writing by Paul Sandle, Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; Editing by William MacLean, Peter Graff and Catherine Evans)

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2020-07-14 15:22:30Z
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UK bans Huawei from national 5G network - South China Morning Post

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UK bans Huawei from national 5G network South China Morning Post
UK says on Huawei: the context has changed due to US sanctions CNA
Britain to purge Huawei from 5G by 2027, angering China and pleasing Trump The Straits Times
What is Huawei and why is its role in UK's 5G so controversial? The Guardian
Huawei first-half sales snap back Asia Times
View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-07-14 13:23:46Z
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