The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act on July 13. If passed by both the Senate and the House, the bill would go to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature. If the President of the United States approves the bill, the relevant diplomatic privileges currently enjoyed by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office would be revoked, and the three Hong Kong offices in the United States would need to be closed within six months.
The “HKETO Certification Act,” proposed by Republican Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, and Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon, was unanimously passed by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs at July 13 meeting. It will now go to the full Senate for a vote, and a similar version of the bill has also been introduced in the House of Representatives.
