8chan/8kun QResearch Posts (2)
#10244813 at 2020-08-10 20:30:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13111: I Play Football at POTUS U Edition
Hong Kong Banks May Suspend Accounts Of Officials Sanctioned By US
On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials
Under such sanctions, banks are prohibited from doing business with the sanctioned individuals
Two major Chinese banks are also "assessing what needs to be done based on their risk tolerance
Banks in Hong Kong are keeping a close eye on the accounts of local government officials who have been slapped with U.S. sanctions – and are researching whether they must suspend the accounts to comply with the orders.
At least one U.S.-based bank has pledged to suspend the accounts to abide by the Treasury Department's directive, Bloomberg reported Monday.
The sanctions, imposed Friday, prohibit banks from doing business with 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials who support China's new national security law in Hong Kong. Treasury officials also froze the officials' assets in the U.S.
The officials include Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief executive; Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of China's State Council; and Chris Tang, commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force.
"The scale looks small for now as only 11 individuals are affected but more people could be added to the list and the banks may face secondary sanctions," Kevin Lai, a chief economist at Daiwa Capital Markets in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg.
Two major Chinese banks also are "assessing what needs to be done based on their risk tolerance and compliance requirements," suggesting they won't ignore the sanctions, Bloomberg noted. The outlet didn't identify the banks.
"Most foreign banks in Hong Kong have been working internally for the last few weeks to prepare a list of people who will [be] the main target of the U.S. sanctions," a senior European banker in Hong Kong told Reuters.
Another banker told Reuters that banks in Hong Kong will now "forensically examine the networks of the people named on the sanctions lists and see if there are any banking relationships which would put the banks at risk."
However, complying with U.S. sanctions would surely place banks in violation of the Chinese security laws, which specify no sanctions can be imposed upon Hong Kong or mainland China by foreign parties.
"The ball is now in the banks' court," said Lai of Daiwa. "They are in a particularly difficult situation as they also have to take the national security law into consideration."
https://www.ibtimes.com/hong-kong-banks-may-suspend-accounts-officials-sanctioned-us-3025791
#9332735 at 2020-05-27 17:01:20 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #11944: Silencing [D]Con Edition
In Landmark Decision, Pompeo Tells Congress Hong Kong No Longer Independent From China
In what appears to be a preview of the at-this-point inevitable White House decision to strip Hong Kong of its preferred trading status over the new National Security law imposed by Beijing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on Wednesday that he has "reported to Congress that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China."
Congress now has the power to strip Hong Kong of its "special status" under the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, which has allowed for the city-state to be treated more favorably than the rest of China by the US.
The status is part of what's allowed Hong Kong to develop as a 'gateway to the West', a key part of its appeal as an international city. Without the US 'special status', HK might lose its international cachet as well, and eventually become just another Chinese city.
Indeed, without such easy access to the global economy, Hong Kong will become just an extension of Shenzen, which lies just across the border on the mainland.
In a story published just minutes before Pompeo's tweet, the Washington Post expLains that "a US law passed last year requires the secretary of state to certify - as part of an annual report to Congress - whether Hong Kong remains 'sufficiently autonomous' from Beijing to justify its unique treatment. That includes assessing the degree to which Hong Kong's autonomy had been eroded by the government of China. (Hong Kong is part of China but has a different legal and economic system, a holdover from its time as a British colony.) The law also provides for sanctions against officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses or undermining the city's autonomy. Such sanctions were also said to be under consideration at the White House in the wake of the Chinese government's decision in May to impose new national security laws on the city."
Stocks have shown a surprising degree of resilience, though the offshore yuan - a key barometer of China-related risks - skidded lower.
Aside from the fact that the decision - which was widely anticipated - marks another milestone in the deterioration in Washington-Beijing relations, as police in HK have already begun arresting protesters brave enough to take the streets in the face of an unprecedented police crackdown, it also jeopardizes nearly $40 billion in bilateral trade, as WaPo expLains.
"Longer term, people might have a second thought about raising money or doing business in Hong Kong," said Kevin Lai, chief economist for Asia excluding Japan at Daiwa Capital Markets. Another expert described revoking HK's special status as "the nuclear option" for the US, and "the beginning of the death of Hong Kong as we know it".
For the last day or so, the editor of China's Global Times has been taunting the US in a series of tweets, daring it to use its navy and come save the protesting Hong Kongers, some of whom have written messages begging Trump to interfere.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/landmark-decision-pompeo-tells-congress-hong-kong-no-longer-independent-china