Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act

Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn act to amend the Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 and for other purposes.
Enacted bythe 116th United States Congress
EffectiveNovember 27, 2019
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 116–76 (text) (PDF)
Statutes at Large113 Stat. 1161
Codification
Acts amendedUnited States–Hong Kong Policy Act
U.S.C. sections created22 U.S.C. §§ 5725–5726
U.S.C. sections amended22 U.S.C. § 5721
Legislative history

The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (HKHRDA)[1] (S. 1838; Pub. L. 116–76 (text) (PDF)) is a United States federal law that requires the U.S. government to impose sanctions against mainland China and Hong Kong officials considered responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong, and requires the United States Department of State and other agencies to conduct an annual review to determine whether changes in Hong Kong's political status (its relationship with mainland China) justify changing the unique, favorable trade relations between the U.S. and Hong Kong.[2][3][4][5] The passage of the bill was supported by pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong,[2] and in 2019 received near-unanimous support in Congress.[6]

Initially introduced in 2014 following the Umbrella Movement and 2014 democracy protests in Hong Kong, the legislation was re-introduced to the next three successive Congresses, but did not gain a vote until 2019, following the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill proposal and the ensuing protests against it.[7] A House version of the bill unanimously passed in the United States House of Representatives through a voice vote in October 2019.[8] In November 2019, the Senate version of the bill, with amendments that differ from the House bill,[9] unanimously passed the Senate on a voice vote.[10][11] The House accepted the Senate version of the bill later that month, sending it to the desk of President Donald Trump,[12] who signed it one week later.[13] The bill was accompanied by a companion bill restricting U.S. exports of crowd control devices to the Hong Kong police forces, which passed both chambers of Congress unanimously and signed by Trump on the same occasion.[14]

  1. ^ Naomi Xu Elegant, The U.S. Senate Passed 2 Bills Supporting Hong Kong Protesters. But They Might Do More Harm Than Good Archived November 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Fortune (November 20, 2019).
  2. ^ a b Yaffe-Bellany, David; Rappeport, Alan (November 20, 2019). "U.S. Bill Supporting Hong Kong Rights Heads to Trump's Desk". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bill 3289 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Congressional Research Service. "S. 1838: Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019". Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via GovTrack.us. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Congressional Research Service. "H.R. 3289: Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019". Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via GovTrack. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ Simon Denyer & Tiffany Liang, China says Trump is on 'edge of precipice' as Hong Kong rights bill hits his desk Archived November 22, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post (November 21, 2019).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brennan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference reuters-seek was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Flatley, Daniel (November 19, 2019). "U.S. Senate Unanimously Passes Measure Backing Hong Kong". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference WSJSenate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cowan, Richard; Zengerle, Patricia (November 19, 2019). "U.S. Senate passes HK rights bill backing protesters, angers Beijing". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  12. ^ Cowan, Richard; Zengerle, Patricia (November 20, 2019). "U.S. House passes Hong Kong human rights bills". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  13. ^ Cochrane, Emily (November 27, 2019). "Trump Signs Hong Kong Democracy Legislation That Has Angered China". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  14. ^ Wang, Christine (November 27, 2019). "Trump signs bills backing Hong Kong protesters into law, in spite of Beijing's objections". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.