PoliticoEU not in mood to follow Donald Trump into China conflict over Hong Kong national security law

Name: Hongkongers with BN(O) could be ‘eligible for Britain citizenship if national security law enacted’
Uploaded: 2020-05-29T05:00:12.000Z
Duration: 1 min 12 s
Description: Hongkongers with BN(O) could be ‘eligible for Britain citizenship if national security law enacted’

European foreign ministers will meet on Friday to try to hack out a common position after the law was approved by China’s National People’s Congress on Thursday

The US has threatened trade sanctions against China, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel has eyes on reaching an investment agreement with China later this year

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel is keen for the European Union to reach a landmark investment agreement with China this year. Photo: AP

Stuart Lau,Jakob Hanke VelaandJacopo Barigazzi

Published: 1:00pm, 29 May 2020Updated: 3:32pm, 29 May 2020

This story is jointly produced by the South China Morning Post and POLITICO, with reporting from Brussels, Paris and Hong Kong.

European leaders are in no mood to follow the United States in threatening trade sanctions against China as it moves to tighten its grip on Hong Kong, although foreign ministers will meet on Friday to try to hack out a common position.

China’s top legislature on Thursday voted to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, sparking concerns that Beijing will limit the autonomy granted by the “one country, two systems” principle that followed the end of British rule in 1997.

The US, Canada, Australia and Britain condemned Beijing’s step, hailing Hong Kong as a “bastion of freedom,” while Britain held open the prospect of citizenship for more Hongkongers if Beijing presses ahead.

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Hongkongers with BN(O) could be ‘eligible for Britain citizenship if national security law enacted’

But despite growing tensions over the former British colony, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe’s most powerful politician, insisted she still wants the European Union to reach a landmark investment agreement with China this year.

And while US President Donald Trump said on Thursday the US would be announcing new US policies on Friday as “we are not happy with China” after his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had already cast doubt on Hong Kong’s continued preferential trading status, the EU stuck to traditional diplomatic expressions of concern.