China has made a “huge mistake” in passing a new national security law curbing freedoms in Hong Kong and will be held accountable by the U.S., President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said.
“Essentially they have robbed Hong Kong of their freedom,” Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said in a CNBC interview on Thursday. “We can’t let this go unnoticed and they will be held accountable for that. If need be, Hong Kong may now have to be treated the same way China is treated.”
“China has made a huge mistake,” he added.
Trump told reporters later that he’ll hold a news conference on Friday to discuss China.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Wednesday that Hong Kong has effectively lost its autonomy and no longer warrants special treatment under U.S. law. The declaration opens the door for Trump to impose penalties ranging from modest sanctions to try to curb China’s actions against its territory to revoking Hong Kong’s special trading status with the U.S.
The latter step would likely reorient global trade, plunge U.S.-China relations deeper into crisis and end any hope for a new trade deal between the world’s two largest economies.
Kudlow said that the “phase one” trade deal Trump signed with Chinese officials in January “does continue to go on for the moment and we may be making progress there. But I think their moves on Hong Kong are a very, very big mistake.”
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