Hong Kong will suspend some legal cooperation with US, China says

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The US had earlier suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements with Hong Kong. PHOTO: AFP

BEIJING (REUTERS, AFP) - Hong Kong will suspend some legal cooperation with the United States, China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday (Aug 20), in a tit-for-tat response to Washington ending some agreements with Hong Kong.

The US State Department notified Hong Kong on Wednesday that Washington had suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements with the semi-autonomous city following China's imposition of a sweeping national security law that critics say is an attack on freedoms in Hong Kong.

"China urges the US to immediately correct its mistakes," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news briefing as he announced the suspension of the agreement on legal assistance.

The agreement, signed in 1997 before Britain returned Hong Kong to China, specified that the US and Hong Kong governments would help each other in criminal matters such as transferring people in custody or searching and confiscating proceeds of crime.

Hong Kong on Thursday accused America of using the city as a pawn in ties with China as it slammed the US decision to withdraw from the three accords covering the surrender of fugitives, transfer of prisoners and tax exemptions on income from shipping.

A Hong Kong government spokesman said abandoning the deals created further "troubles in the China- US relationship, using Hong Kong as a pawn", and "should be condemned by the international community".

He said the decision reflects a "disrespect for bilateralism and multilateralism" under the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The US announcement followed an earlier decision by Mr Trump to revoke the preferential trade status afforded Hong Kong under American law, as Beijing clamps down on the territory after huge and often violent pro-democracy protests last year.

Hong Kong authorities said the three agreements terminated on Wednesday were negotiated "in good faith to benefit the peoples and businesses of both sides".

The spokesman added that ending the tax exemptions would increase the operating costs of shipping companies.

"It will hamper the development of the shipping sector between Hong Kong and the US, and is in nobody's interest," he said.

Earlier this month Washington imposed sanctions on Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam along with 10 other senior officials in the city, and criminalised any US financial transactions with the group.

It also required goods imported from Hong Kong to be marked as "made in China" rather than "made in Hong Kong" as previously.

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