I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 750

To support the autonomous governance of Hong Kong after its reversion

to the People’s Republic of China.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 13, 1997

Mr. BEREUTER (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.

SOLOMON, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. DREIER, Mr.

FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. CRANE, Mr. SALMON, Mr. KOLBE, and Mr. COX of

California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To support the autonomous governance of Hong Kong after

its reversion to the People’s Republic of China.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hong Kong Reversion

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to support the autonomous

8 governance of Hong Kong and the future well-being of the

9 Hong Kong people by ensuring the continuity of United
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1 States laws with respect to Hong Kong after its reversion

2 to the People’s Republic of China on July 1, 1997, and

3 to outline circumstances under which the President of the

4 United States could modify the application of United

5 States laws with respect to Hong Kong if the People’s Re6 public of China fails to honor its commitment to give the

7 Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong a high de8 gree of autonomy.

9 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

10 The Congress makes the following findings:

11 (1) The Joint Declaration of the Government of

12 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

13 Ireland and the Government of the People’s Repub14 lic of China on the Question of Hong Kong, done at

15 Beijing on December 19, 1984, is a binding inter16 national agreement which sets forth the commit17 ments made by both governments on the reversion of

18 Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China on

19 July 1, 1997.

20 (2) The People’s Republic of China in the Joint

21 Declaration pledges, among other things, that ‘‘the

22 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will enjoy

23 a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and

24 defence affairs...,’’ that basic human rights and free25 doms ‘‘will be ensured by law...,’’ and that ‘‘[t]he
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1 legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative

2 Region shall be constituted by elections.’’.

3 (3) Senior government officials of the People’s

4 Republic of China have repeatedly assured a smooth

5 transfer of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty, a

6 successful implementation of the ‘‘one country, two

7 systems’’ policy, long-term prosperity for Hong

8 Kong, and continued respect for the basic rights of

9 the Hong Kong people.

10 (4) Despite general assertions guaranteeing the

11 autonomous governance of Hong Kong, several offi12 cial acts and statements by senior officials of the

13 Government of the People’s Republic of China re14 flect an attempt to infringe upon the current and fu15 ture levels of autonomy in Hong Kong. These acts

16 or statements include, but are not limited to—

17 (A) initial proposals, which were later

18 withdrawn, by officials of the Government of

19 the People’s Republic of China to obtain con20 fidential files on civil servants of the Hong

21 Kong Government or require such civil servants

22 to take ‘‘loyalty oaths’’;

23 (B) the decision of the Government of the

24 People’s Republic of China to dissolve the

25 democratically elected Legislative Council on
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1 July 1, 1997, and the appointment of a provi2 sional legislature in December of 1996;

3 (C) the delineation by officials concerning

4 the types of speech and association which will

5 be permitted by the Government of the People’s

6 Republic of China after the reversion;

7 (D) initial warnings, which were later with8 drawn, to religious institutions not to hold cer9 tain gatherings after the reversion; and

10 (E) the decision on February 1, 1997, of

11 the Preparatory Committee appointed by the

12 Government of the People’s Republic of China

13 to repeal or amend certain Hong Kong ordi14 nances, including the Bill of Rights Ordinance,

15 the Societies Ordinance of 1992 (relating to

16 freedom of association), and the Public Order

17 Ordinance of 1995 (relating to freedom of as18 sembly).

19 (5) The reversion of Hong Kong to the People’s

20 Republic of China has important implications for

21 both United States national interests and the inter22 ests of the Hong Kong people. The United States

23 Government has a responsibility to ensure that Unit24 ed States interests are protected during and after
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1 this transition, and it has a profound interest in en2 suring that basic and fundamental human rights of

3 the Hong Kong people are also protected.

4 (6) The United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of

5 1992 sets forth United States policy concerning

6 Hong Kong’s reversion to the People’s Republic of

7 China on July 1, 1997, and Hong Kong’s special

8 status as a Special Administrative Region of that

9 country. It ensures the continuity of United States

10 laws regarding Hong Kong while establishing a

11 mechanism in section 202 of that Act whereby the

12 President can modify the application of United

13 States laws with respect to Hong Kong if the Presi14 dent ‘‘determines that Hong Kong is not sufficiently

15 autonomous to justify treatment under a particular

16 law of the United States, or any provision thereof,

17 different from that accorded the People’s Republic

18 of China’’.

19 (7) Although the United States Government

20 can have an impact on ensuring the future auton21 omy of the Hong Kong Government and in protect22 ing the well-being of the Hong Kong people, ulti23 mately the future of Hong Kong will be determined

24 by the willingness of the Government of the People’s
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1 Republic of China to maintain the freedoms now en2 joyed by the people of Hong Kong and to rely on the

3 people of Hong Kong to govern themselves.

4 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATIONS.

5 The Congress makes the following declarations:

6 (1) Recognizing that the United States Govern7 ment and the Hong Kong Government have long en8 joyed a close and beneficial working relationship, for

9 example between the United States Customs Service,

10 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug En11 forcement Administration, the Immigration and Nat12 uralization Service, the Secret Service, and their cor13 responding agencies of the Hong Kong Government,

14 the United States urges the two governments to con15 tinue their effective cooperation.

16 (2) Recognizing that the preservation of Hong

17 Kong’s autonomous customs territory has important

18 security and commercial implications for the United

19 States and the people of Hong Kong, the United

20 States calls upon the People’s Republic of China to

21 fully respect the autonomy of the Hong Kong cus22 toms territory.

23 (3) Recognizing that Hong Kong has histori24 cally been an important port of call for United

25 States naval vessels, the United States urges the
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1 Government of the People’s Republic of China to

2 consider in a timely and routine manner United

3 States requests for port calls at Hong Kong.

4 (4) Recognizing that Hong Kong enjoys a ro5 bust and professional free press with important

6 guarantees on the freedom of information, the Unit7 ed States declares that a free press and access to in8 formation are fundamentally important to the eco9 nomic and commercial success of Hong Kong and

10 calls upon the Government of the People’s Republic

11 of China to fully respect these essential rights of the

12 Hong Kong people.

13 (5) Recognizing that the first fully democratic

14 elections of a legislature in Hong Kong took place

15 in 1995, following nearly 150 years of colonial rule,

16 the United States recognizes that the Joint Declara17 tion of 1984 requires that the Special Administrative

18 Region legislature ‘‘shall be constituted by elec19 tions’’, declares that the failure to have an elected

20 legislature would be a violation of the Joint Declara21 tion of 1984, and calls upon the Government of the

22 People’s Republic of China to honor its treaty obli23 gations.

24 (6) Recognizing that the United Kingdom belat25 edly reformed Hong Kong laws with respect to the
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1 civil rights of the Hong Kong people, the Hong

2 Kong people have nevertheless long enjoyed essential

3 rights and freedoms as enumerated in the Universal

4 Declaration of Human Rights; therefore, the United

5 States declares that the decision of the Preparatory

6 Committee to repeal or amend certain ordinances is

7 a serious threat to the Hong Kong people’s contin8 ued enjoyment of their freedom of association,

9 speech, and other essential human rights, and calls

10 upon the Preparatory Committee to reconsider its

11 decision.

12 (7) Recognizing that Hong Kong currently

13 maintains an efficient capitalist economy and trade

14 system by strictly adhering to the rule of law, by

15 honoring the sanctity of contract, and by operating

16 without corruption and with minimum and trans17 parent regulation, the United States calls upon the

18 Government of the People’s Republic of China to

19 fully respect the autonomy and independence of the

20 chief executive, the civil service, the judiciary, the

21 police of Hong Kong, and the Independent Commis22 sion Against Corruption.
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1 SEC. 5. PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION UNDER SECTION

2 202 OF THE UNITED STATES-HONG KONG POL3 ICY ACT OF 1992 AND ADDITIONAL REPORT4 ING REQUIREMENTS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In determining whether ‘‘Hong

6 Kong is not sufficiently autonomous to justify treatment

7 under a particular law of the United States, or any provi8 sion thereof, different from that accorded the People’s Re9 public of China,’’ as required by section 202(a) of the

10 United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, the Presi11 dent of the United States, based upon the assessments

12 made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, as well

13 as other information included in the reports submitted

14 under section 301 of the United States-Hong Kong Policy

15 Act of 1992, shall consider the performance of the Hong

16 Kong Government and the actions of the Government of

17 the People’s Republic of China.

18 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—

19 The Secretary of State shall include, in each report re20 quired by section 301 of the United States-Hong Kong

21 Policy Act of 1992, the following:

22 (1) SUCCESSFUL AND TIMELY CONCLUSION OF

23 AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES.—An assessment by

24 the Secretary of State of whether the Hong Kong

25 Government or the People’s Republic of China, or

26 both, as the case may be, have cooperated with the
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1 United States Government in securing the following

2 agreements or treaties:

3 (A) A bilateral investment treaty.

4 (B) An extradition treaty.

5 (C) An agreement on consular access in

6 Hong Kong for United States citizens com7 parable to that provided for in the consular con8 vention between the United States and the Peo9 ple’s Republic of China.

10 (D) An agreement to preserve the United

11 States consulate, with privileges and immunities

12 for United States personnel.

13 (E) A mutual legal assistance agreement.

14 (F) A prison transfer agreement.

15 (G) A civil aviation agreement.

16 (2) CONTINUED COOPERATION FROM THE

17 AGENCIES OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT.—An

18 assessment by the Secretary of State of whether

19 agencies of the Hong Kong Government continue to

20 cooperate with United States Government agencies.

21 The Secretary of State shall cite in the report any

22 evidence of diminished cooperation in the areas of

23 customs enforcement, drug interdiction, and pros24 ecution and prevention of money laundering, coun25 terfeiting, credit card fraud, and organized crime.
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1 (3) PRESERVATION OF GOOD GOVERNANCE AND

2 RULE OF LAW IN HONG KONG.—An assessment by

3 the Secretary of State of whether the Hong Kong

4 Government remains autonomous and relatively free

5 of corruption and whether the rule of law is re6 spected in Hong Kong. The Secretary of State shall

7 cite in the report any—

8 (A) efforts to annul or curtail the applica9 tion of the Bill of Rights of Hong Kong;

10 (B) efforts to prosecute for violations of, or

11 broaden the application of, laws against trea12 son, secession, sedition, and subversion;

13 (C) acts or threats against nonviolent civil

14 disobedience;

15 (D) interference in the autonomy of the

16 chief executive, the civil service, the judiciary,

17 or the police;

18 (E) increased corruption in the Hong Kong

19 Government; and

20 (F) efforts to suppress freedom of the

21 press or restrict the free flow of information.

22 (4) PRESERVATION OF THE AUTONOMY OF THE

23 CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF HONG KONG.—An assess24 ment by the Secretary of State of whether the cus25 toms territory of Hong Kong is administered in an
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1 autonomous manner. The Secretary of State shall

2 cite in the report any—

3 (A) failure to respect United States textile

4 laws and quotas;

5 (B) failure to enforce United States export

6 control laws or export license requirements;

7 (C) unauthorized diversions from Hong

8 Kong of high technology exports from the Unit9 ed States to Hong Kong; and

10 (D) the misuse of the customs territory of

11 Hong Kong to implement the foreign policy or

12 trade goals of the Government of the People’s

13 Republic of China.

14 SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS,

15 AND IMMUNITIES TO HONG KONG ECONOMIC

16 AND TRADE OFFICES.

17 (a) APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZA18 TIONS IMMUNITIES ACT.—The provisions of the Inter19 national Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288 et

20 seq.) may be extended to the Hong Kong Economic and

21 Trade Offices in the same manner, to the same extent,

22 and subject to the same conditions as such provisions may

23 be extended to a public international organization in which

24 the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or

25 under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing
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1 such participation or making an appropriation for such

2 participation.

3 (b) APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT

4 ON CERTAIN STATE AND LOCAL TAXATION.—The Presi5 dent is authorized to apply the provisions of Article I of

6 the Agreement on State and Local Taxation of Foreign

7 Employees of Public International Organizations, done at

8 Washington, D.C. on April 21, 1994, to the Hong Kong

9 Economic and Trade Offices.

10 (c) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘Hong Kong Economic

11 and Trade Offices’’ refers to Hong Kong’s official eco12 nomic and trade missions in the United States.

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