Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a warning to China over threats to interfere with the reporting of U.S. journalists in Hong Kong.
Pompeo noted on Sunday that he had been alerted to such threats from the Chinese government and said any decision to impact Hong Kong’s autonomy could affect the United States’ assessment of the territory’s status.
“It has recently come to my attention that the Chinese government has threatened to interfere with the work of American journalists in Hong Kong. These journalists are members of a free press, not propaganda cadres, and their valuable reporting informs Chinese citizens and the world,” he said in a statement.
“Any decision impinging on Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms as guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law would inevitably impact our assessment of One Country, Two Systems and the status of the territory,” he added.
Pompeo announced earlier this month that the State Department is delaying its assessment on whether Hong Kong, which was returned to China from Britain in 1997 under the principle of “one country, two systems,” has been given sufficient autonomy or if it should continue receiving special treatment from the U.S.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have intensified in recent months as the world combats the coronavirus. President Trump and his administration have criticized China’s handling of its coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated late last year, and for downplaying the danger it presented to the world.
Earlier this year, China also expelled several American reporters, and the U.S. responded by placing new limits on Chinese journalists and tightening visa restrictions for them.
