On May 9, Gregory May, the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau, urged the Hong Kong government to withdraw the arrest bounties on overseas pro-democracy activists, release Jimmy Lai, and the 47 pro-democracy and other persons in detention, at an online conference organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a U.S. think tank. He also made it clear that no matter what happens in the future, the United States will remain fully engaged in Hong Kong.
On May 7, CSIS released its latest research report, criticizing the CCP for seriously eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy and asking the U.S. government to reassess its policy toward Hong Kong. The report points out that even if Hong Kong still possesses a certain degree of autonomy, like the way of life in Hong Kong is qualitatively different from other parts under mainland jurisdictions, the overall trend is clearly leaning toward further erosion of autonomy in almost all areas, such as the legal and political systems, civil society, operation environment for companies and investors.
