From Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019: The Evolution of the US's Hong Kong Policy in the Context of the Rise of China

• Author: Jie Liu - Congyan Cai
• Position: Ph.D. candidate in international law at Xiamen University School of Law - Professor at Fudan University School of Law
• Pages: 7-20

Jie Liu

∗

& Congyan Cai

∗∗

The US has huge interests in Hong Kong. In 1992, a few years before China resumed

its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the US adopted the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy

Act of 1992. The keynote of the Act is to enhance the cooperation with and maintain

the treatment to Hong Kong. This tune has changed in the Hong Kong Human Rights

and Democracy Act of 2019, which is obviously the response of the US to widespread

protests in Hong Kong arising from the Extradition Bill proposed by the Government

of Hong Kong SAR. The new law includes several negative elements. It marks a

change in the US policy towards Hong Kong and furthermore represents a change in

the US policy towards China. The new law should not merely be understood as the

US’s support for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong. Instead, it should be

considered as a major leverage which the US may maneuver to engage a rising China.

Keywords

Hong Kong Policy Act, Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,

the US’s China Policy, Rise of China

∗Ph.D. candidate in international law at Xiamen University School of Law. A.B. (Xiamen)/LL.M.(Nanjing). ORCID:

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3480-5387. The author may be contacted at: liujie0086@foxmail.com/Address: School of

Law at Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, P.R. China, 361000.

∗∗ Professor at Fudan University School of Law; Honorary Professor at East China University of Political Science and Law

(ECUPL). A.B./LL.M./Ph.D. (Xiamen). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5282-013X. The author may be contacted

at: caicongyan@sina.com/Address: 2005, Song hu Road, Fudan University Law School, Shanghai, P.R. China.

From Hong Kong Policy

Act of 1992 to Hong Kong

Human Rights and

Democracy Act of 2019:

The Evolution of the US

’

s

Hong Kong Policy in the

Context of the Rise of China

J. East asia & int’l l. Vol. 13/No.1 (2020); 7-20

Publication type : Research Article

Section : Issue Focus

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2020.13.1.01