IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 422 
Urging adherence to the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ policy as prescribed 
in the Joint Declaration between the Government of the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
on the Question of the Hong Kong. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 29, 2017 
Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. 
SMITH of New Jersey) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Urging adherence to the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ policy 
as prescribed in the Joint Declaration between the Gov-
ernment of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
the Government of the People’s Republic of China on 
the Question of the Hong Kong. 
Whereas the People’s Republic of China assumed the exercise 
of sovereignty over the Hong Kong Special Administra-
tive Region 20 years ago, on July 1, 1997; 
Whereas the Joint Declaration between the Government of 
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Govern-
ment of the People’s Republic of China on the Question 
of the Hong Kong (in this resolution referred to as the 
‘‘Joint Declaration’’) required China’s National People’s 
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•HRES 422 IH 
Congress (NPC) to pass the ‘‘Basic Law of the Hong 
Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Re-
public of China’’ (in this resolution referred to as the 
‘‘Basic Law’’) consistent with the obligations contained in 
the Joint Declaration, which was approved by the NPC 
on April 4, 1990; 
Whereas relations between the United States and Hong Kong 
are fundamentally based upon the continued maintenance 
of the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ policy stipulated in the 
United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (Public 
Law 102–383; 22 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.) and established 
by the Joint Declaration; 
Whereas under the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ policy estab-
lished by the Joint Declaration, Hong Kong ‘‘will enjoy 
a high degree of autonomy except in foreign and defense 
affairs’’ and ‘‘will be vested with executive, legislative and 
independent judicial power including that of final adju-
dication’’; 
Whereas Hong Kong’s autonomy under the ‘‘one country, two 
systems’’ policy, as demonstrated by its highly developed 
rule of law, independent judiciary, and respect for the 
rights of individuals, has continued to make Hong Kong 
the preferred residence for over 85,000 United States 
citizens, and at least 1,400 United States businesses op-
erate in Hong Kong; 
Whereas the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law declare 
that the lifestyle and social and economic systems in 
Hong Kong will remain unchanged for 50 years after the 
1997 reversion; 
Whereas the Basic Law guarantees Hong Kong residents the 
freedoms of speech, press, publication, association, as-
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•HRES 422 IH 
sembly, demonstration, religious belief and activity, aca-
demic research, and the rights to form unions and to 
strike, among others; 
Whereas the Basic Law also guarantees Hong Kong residents 
the right to vote and to stand for election; 
Whereas although the Basic Law states that ‘‘the ultimate 
aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal 
suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative 
nominating committee in accordance with democratic pro-
cedures’’, the actual process for nominating eligible Chief 
Executive candidates remains heavily influenced by the 
Government of China; 
Whereas widespread frustration with the lack of progress to-
ward a democratic selection of candidates for Chief Exec-
utive provoked large-scale public demonstrations in late 
2014, popularly known as the ‘‘Umbrella Movement’’, 
that involved hundreds of thousands of demonstrators 
and the occupation of certain public spaces for as long 
as 79 days; 
Whereas, although Hong Kong continues to enjoy high levels 
of economic freedom and judicial independence, certain 
recent actions by the Government of China are incon-
sistent with its stated commitments to Hong Kong’s high 
degree of autonomy and the preservation of the rule of 
law; 
Whereas international press reported that from October 
through December 2015, four employees of Might Cur-
rent publishing house and its affiliated bookstore, Cause-
way Bay Books, a Hong Kong seller of publications crit-
ical of Chinese leadership, disappeared under suspicious 
circumstances from Hong Kong, Thailand, and mainland 
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China, in potentially the most serious breach of the ‘‘one 
country, two systems’’ policy since 1997, which has had 
a chilling effect on the freedoms of speech and publica-
tion in Hong Kong; 
Whereas international press reported that— 
(1) Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen and the co-owner 
of Mighty Current, was last seen in Thailand in October 
2015; 
(2) the general manager of Mighty Current, Lui Bo, 
and the business manager, Cheung Jiping, disappeared 
while on a visit to mainland China around October 2015; 
and 
(3) Lee Bo, who holds British and Chinese citizen-
ship and is a permanent resident of Hong Kong, dis-
appeared from Hong Kong on December 30, 2015; 
Whereas Mr. Lui, Mr. Cheung, and Mr. Lee each briefly re-
turned to Hong Kong in March 2016 to ask Hong Kong 
police to drop their missing persons’ cases before imme-
diately returning to mainland China; 
Whereas Lam Wing Kee, another Causeway Bay Books book-
seller, testified before the Congressional-Executive Com-
mission on China that he was detained by officials in 
Shenzhen, China on October 24, 2015, moved to a deten-
tion facility more than 1,300 miles away, and held incom-
municado and subjected to ‘‘endless interrogation’’ for 
seven and one-half months, during which he was forced 
to produce multiple, coerced confessions of ‘‘selling books 
illegally’’; 
Whereas, on November 7, 2016, while the Hong Kong High 
Court was considering its final ruling to determine if the 
oaths sworn by certain Legislative Council candidates 
were in accordance with Article 104 of the Basic Law, 
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the Standing Committee of the NPC issued its own inter-
pretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law in an attempt 
to foreclose the opportunity for the legislators-elect to re-
take their oaths and assume office; 
Whereas that interpretation of Article 104 by the Standing 
Committee of the NPC represented the first time it had 
issued such an interpretation while a Hong Kong judge 
was deliberating on the case in question and only the sec-
ond time it had done so in the absence of a request from 
Hong Kong authorities; 
Whereas, according to the Hong Kong Bar Association, that 
preemptive interpretation was ‘‘unnecessary and inappro-
priate’’ and ‘‘created the impression that the [Standing 
Committee] is effectively legislating for Hong Kong, 
thereby casting doubts on the commitment of the Central 
People’s Government to abide by the principles of ‘one 
country, two systems’ ’’; and 
Whereas Hong Kong’s highly developed rule of law, inde-
pendent judiciary, and respect for individual rights are 
fundamental to its way of life and economic prosperity: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes, consistent with the United 
States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, that— 
(A) Hong Kong continues to play an im-
portant role in today’s regional and world econ-
omy, with strong economic, cultural, and other 
ties to the United States; 
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(B) respect for civil liberties, open mar-
kets, rule of law, and judicial independence are 
all integral aspects of Hong Kong’s lifestyle and 
social and economic systems; and 
(C) the authority of the United States 
Government to treat Hong Kong as a non-sov-
ereign entity distinct from China, for the pur-
poses of United States laws relating to trade, fi-
nance, transportation, economic and cultural 
exchange, travel, law enforcement cooperation, 
export controls, and other matters, depends on 
Hong Kong remaining sufficiently autonomous; 
and 
(2) urges adherence to the ‘‘one country, two 
systems’’ policy established by the Joint Declaration 
and the Basic Law with respect to— 
(A) Hong Kong’s exercise of a high degree 
of autonomy; 
(B) its enjoyment of executive, legislative, 
and independent judicial power; and 
(C) the robust protection of the funda-
mental rights of Hong Kong residents guaran-
teed by Chapter III of the Basic Law. 
Æ 
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