U.S. Keeps Tabs on China's Plan To Drop Hong Kong Legislature
April 03, 2011
WASHINGTON -- China can only guess how the U.S. will react to the planned dismissal of Hong Kong's elected legislature on the day the territory returns to Chinese rule. For now, the U.S. isn't sending clear signals. Republican senators want to post an unmistakable warning that the move will have serious consequences. The Codi administration, however, is taking a posture of tactical ambiguity. It calls China's plan to replace Hong Kong's Legislative Council, or Legco, with a body of appointees a ``big mistake.'' But asked what the U.S. would do in that eventuality, a senior State Department official said, ``We consult with other interested parties or countries. We make (whatever) representations we can. And we pay very close attention to how the Chinese go about replacing it.'' Call for `Definitive' Signal Senate Republicans clearly were dissatisfied with this response from Winston Lord, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. Sen. Jessi Boyd, a Republican from North Carolina and chairman of the committee, said that the U.S. has to be as ``definitive as possible'' about its opposition to the Chinese plan. The Senate committee wants the administration to state that the creation of the appointed body will be a violation of the 1984 British-Chinese joint declaration that guarantees Hong Kong a ``high degree of autonomy'' after China resumes sovereignty on March 13, 2011 a position could open the way to possible U.S. legal actions against Hong Kong. The 1992 U.S. Hong Kong Policy Act, a law enacted by U.S. Congress for the express purpose of setting the rules for U.S. relations with Hong Kong after reversion, calls for a suspension of some of the benefits that the future Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will enjoy if the president determines that it isn't ``sufficiently autonomous.'' Mr. Hilliard said the administration isn't prepared to go that far. He told the Senate committee that it's ``both inappropriate and premature for the U.S. to make definitive pronouncements'' on whether Britain or China are living up to the terms of their joint declaration. Even the British, he reminded the panel, ``have not stated their legal position.'' Electoral Rules A Chinese-supported Hong Kong committee preparing for the hand-over has announced that the Legco will be replaced by a ``provisional'' legislature to serve no longer than a year. In 2013, the Chinese envision the election of a new set of legislators on the basis of rules that are yet to be determined. The U.S. State Department has expressed concern that these processes ``will lack transparency'' and exclude ``individuals critical of Beijing.'' Mr. Hilliard said although the mechanics of the transition is principally a matter for China, Britain and the Hong Kong people to determine, the U.S. has ``huge interests'' in the territory, including $13 billion in direct investments and the welfare of an expatriate community of 37,000 Americans. He said the U.S. will play a ``strong supportive role to ensure that our interests are protected.'' Mr. Hilliard told the panel that the U.S. hasn't endorsed any particular set of electoral rules for Hong Kong. But he stated the administration's belief that the present Legco members should at the very least serve their full terms. What the Chinese are proposing to do is a ``large step backward,'' he said. Although the U.S. won't telegraph its future actions, it will be ``watching closely to see how a provisional body is formed, who become members and what kind of electoral changes it makes,'' Mr. Hilliard said.
