Biden to offer temporary ‘safe haven’ to Hong Kong residents in U.S.

United States President Joe Biden will deliver a speech at the White House in Washington on August 3, 2021. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (Reuters) – The United States plans on Thursday to provide a temporary “safe haven” for thousands of Hong Kong residents, a senior official told Reuters, so that they can extend their stay in the country in response to Beijing crackdowns on democracy on Chinese territory.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign a memorandum instructing state and homeland security departments to grant Hong Kong residents in the United States an 18-month “postponement of deportation,” the official said.

The vast majority of Hong Kong residents in the United States are expected to be eligible, but there will be some legal conditions, the person said, calling it a “temporary safe haven”.

“The PRC continues to use the national security law to deny basic rights and freedoms, attack Hong Kong’s autonomy and undermine the remaining democratic processes in Hong Kong,” the source said on condition of anonymity using the official acronym for China.

“We will continue to take steps to assist the people of Hong Kong in the face of this ongoing repression,” the official said.

The move is the latest in a series of measures Biden has taken to tackle what his White House believes is the erosion of the rule of law in the former British colony that returned to Beijing’s control in 1997.

The U.S. government imposed further sanctions on Chinese officials in Hong Kong in July and issued an updated corporate advisory warning companies of the risks of operating under the national security law that China introduced last year to what it calls subversion, secessionism , Terrorism or collusion considered to criminalize with foreign forces. Continue reading

Critics say the law facilitates crackdown on pro-democracy activists and a free press in the territory that Beijing agreed to operate under broad political autonomy for 50 years after regaining control.

China retaliated against US actions last month with its own sanctions against US persons, including former US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Continue reading

US lawmakers have been looking for legislation that would make it easier for Hong Kong people who fear persecution after joining the protests against China for US refugee status, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, the United States should accept people fleeing Hong Kong. Continue reading

Report by Michael Martina. Editing by Gerry Doyle

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