https://www.politico.eu/article/pomp...autonomy-away/
Pompeo: China has taken Hong Kong’s autonomy away
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally certified to Congress on Wednesday that the Trump administration no longer views Hong Kong as an autonomous region of China, a move that effectively terminates the city's special status under U.S. law that has helped it flourish as destination for trade and investment.......
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...kong-quicktake
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c...s-xi-hm8t8bjw3
US halts trade deal with Hong Kong in protest at China
..... On Sunday Robert O’Brien, the president’s national security adviser, said that if Mr Pompeo could no longer certify Hong Kong’s autonomy then “there will be sanctions that will be imposed on Hong Kong and China”.
The end of special trading status would mean that goods from Hong Kong would become subject to the same tariffs now applied by the US to ones from mainland China. Economic and visa restrictions on China would also be expanded to the territory, dealing a significant blow to Hong Kong’s role as a multinational business hub......
It came hours after President Xi said that China must be ready for war as relations between Beijing and Washington hit a new low.....
In surprisingly forthright remarks carried by the official Xinhua news agency, Mr Xi said China must get ready for war. “We must explore ways to train and to prepare for war when pandemic control efforts are getting normalised,” he said. “We must hasten to step up preparations for armed warfare, carry out real-combat military training with flexibility, and to comprehensively enhance our army’s abilities to perform military missions.”
He said the pandemic had made a profound impact on the global order, as well as China’s security and development. Although Mr Xi refrained from identifying the enemy, his defence minister was less circumspect.
Wei Fenghe, who is also a general in the army, said: “The United States has intensified the suppression and containment of our side since the outbreak, and the Sino-US strategic confrontation has entered a period of high risk. We must strengthen our fighting spirit, be daring to fight and be good at fighting, and use fighting to promote stability.”
Beijing is set to increase its defence budget by 6.6 per cent to reach $178 billion this year, far outpacing economic growth, which is estimated to be 1.5 per cent over the course of the year......