The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOs) are the trade offices of Hong Kong outside the territory. There are 14 HKETOs outside Hong Kong and China, and seven in China.
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 as the international marketing dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. The organisation has fifty offices around the world, including 13 on the Chinese mainland. With more than 50 years of experience, its mission is to explore opportunities for Hong Kong companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and connect them with business partners around the world.
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office London is Hong Kong's representation in the United Kingdom. Apart from the United Kingdom, the Office is responsible for fostering trade and economic relations with countries including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia and Sweden. The Office promotes bilateral trade with and investment in Hong Kong, updates the business communities and multiplier organisations on important developments in Hong Kong. It also organizes official visits, seminars and liaison events in the countries concerned, and acts as a hub to support investors from these countries in their search for business opportunities in Hong Kong and mainland China.
The United States-Hong Kong Policy Act, or more commonly known as the Hong Kong Policy Act or Hong Kong Relations Act, is a 1992 act enacted by the United States Congress. It allows the United States to continue to treat Hong Kong separately from Mainland China for matters concerning trade export and economic control after the 1997 Hong Kong handover.
Although Hong Kong law provides freedom of speech and press, and freedom of expression is protected by the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, the Hong Kong national security law gives the government the power to "take down any electronic messages published" that the government considers endangering national security. The government has blocked several anti-government, doxxing or politically sensitive websites after the commencement of the law, leading to increased concerns of Internet censorship.
Hong Kong–United States relations are bilateral relations between Hong Kong and the United States.
Priscilla Leung Mei-funGBS JP is a barrister and Hong Kong Legislative Councillor, representing the Election Committee since 2022. She previously represented the Kowloon West constituency from 2008 to 2021. She was a member of Kowloon City District Council.
The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau is a ministerial-level policy bureaux of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for the implementation of the Basic Law, including electoral matters and promotion of equal opportunities and privacy protection. The bureau also functions as the intermediary between the HKSAR Government and the Central People's Government and other Mainland authorities under the principles of "One Country, Two Systems", including the coordination of liaison between the HKSAR Government and Central authorities, promoting regional co-operation initiatives between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and overseeing the operation of offices of the HKSAR Government on the Mainland.
Marco Rubio is a Republican United States Senator from Florida. Rubio was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in the 2016 election.
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (HKHRDA) 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 justify changing the unique, favorable trade relations between the U.S. and Hong Kong. The passage of the bill was supported by pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, and in 2019 received near-unanimous support in Congress.
The month of July 2020 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests began with a turning point in the evolution of the protests, brought about by the Hong Kong national security law. The law, which had been passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China on 30 June and come into effect on the same day, was widely seen as having the purpose of curbing opposition, in a broad sense, against the Chinese Communist Party in the city. The law had direct relevance to the protests, as it prescribes harsh penalties for the tactics that protesters had commonly used. Nevertheless, sizeable protests erupted throughout the city on occasion of the 1 July protests the next day, resulting in about 370 arrests, including at least ten on charges under the new law. The Hong Kong government, faced with the task of implementing a law that had been drafted and promulgated without substantial involvement by its own officials, was seen widely, including in the academic and media sectors, as being unable to draw a clear demarcation line between which acts would constitute punishable offences under the law, and which would not. The vagueness of the law, while refused by the city's police chief, was seen by pro-democrats and observers as a deliberate device to amplify its deterrence effect.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) is an international, cross-party alliance of parliamentarians from democratic countries focused on relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), and specifically, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was established on June 4, 2020, on the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The alliance comprises over 240 members from 27 legislatures and the European Parliament. Each legislature represented takes turns to chair the alliance on a rotating basis. Its purpose is to create a coordinated response to China on global trade, security and human rights.
In early May 2020, the Chinese Government announced plans to draft a new national security law for Hong Kong, something required under Hong Kong Basic Law but which should explicitly be written and enacted by Hong Kong's own government. In response to apparent mainland intent to bypass Hong Kong's local legislature, the United Kingdom – which administered Hong Kong until 1997 – announced that if a security law drafted by China was approved, Britain would open a route for all Hong Kong residents born under British rule to become British citizens. Other nations and organisations have given various responses to the decision, to legislation plans, and ultimately the law itself as passed by the Chinese Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on 28 May 2020 with 2878 votes "for", 1 vote against, and 6 blank votes. At 9:30 am, 30 June 2020, the same Standing Committee unanimously voted to enact the law. The law became effective at 11 pm on the same day.
Executive Order 13936, entitled "The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization", is an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on July 14, 2020. On the same day Trump had signed into law Hong Kong Autonomy Act, one of the laws from which the order derives authority. The act and the executive order are the U.S. response to the imposition of a controversial national security law in Hong Kong by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China on June 30, 2020, which was described as "an unusual and extraordinary threat [...] to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States" in the preamble.
Few protests took place in December 2020 and there was no large-scale demonstrations in threat of the national security law. The imprisonment of Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam on 2 December aroused attention of the International community.
Paul Lam Ting-kwok is a Hong Kong Senior Counsel who is the current Secretary for Justice.
Algernon Yau Ying-wah is the current Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development in Hong Kong, appointed on 1 July 2022 as part of John Lee's administration.
The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance is a local law of Hong Kong. It was introduced by the Government of Hong Kong on 8 March 2024, passed by the Legislative Council on 19 March 2024, and took effect on 23 March 2024. The ordinance is enacted to implement Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law.
On 13 May 2024, the Metropolitan Police of London, United Kingdom, announced three men had been charged with national security offences for assisting Hong Kong intelligence service and foreign interference, including spying on Nathan Law and other exiled activists of Hong Kong. Yuen, one of the defendants, is Administrative Manager of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London. The case has prompted condemnations from Chinese and Hong Kong governments.
Chung Pui-kuen is a Hong Kong journalist. Former chief editor of Stand News, a defunct Hong Kong online media outlet, Chung was convicted of sedition in 2024, the first since the city was handed over to China in 1997.
