After Pompeo and Chinese Diplomat Meeting, China Advances National Security Law for Hong Kong

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks with then-Chinese state councilor Yang Jiechi during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on October 8, 2018. Daisuke Suzuki /Pool/Getty Images

After U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi met in Hawaii for talks, the two sides released differing statements about the meeting.

Then, hours after the meeting, the standing committee of China’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, moved forward with drafting a controversial national security law for Hong Kong—despite condemnation from the United States and other countries, including the G-7 nations, as they raised concerns that such a proposal would undermine the territory’s autonomy and freedoms.

Pompeo–Yang Meeting

Pompeo and Yang met for more than six hours in Honolulu on June 17, according to Reuters.