HONG KONG ¨C The top U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong said the imposition of a new national security law had created an ¡°atmosphere of coercion¡± that threatens both the city¡¯s freedoms and its standing as an international business hub.
In unusually strident remarks this week, U.S. Consul-General Hanscom Smith called it ¡°appalling¡± that Beijing¡¯s influence had ¡°vilified¡± routine diplomatic activities such as meeting local activists, part of a government crackdown on foreign forces that was ¡°casting a pall over the city.¡±
Smith¡¯s remarks highlight deepening concerns over Hong Kong¡¯s sharply deteriorating freedoms among many officials in the administration of President Joe Biden one year after China¡¯s parliament imposed the law. Critics of the legislation say the law has crushed the city¡¯s democratic opposition, civil society and Western-style freedoms.
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