Legco President Rejects Bid For Debate On US Move

The Legislative Council President Andrew Leung on Wednesday rejected a request for an adjournment to debate the US decision to withdraw Hong Kong’s special trade status with Washington, saying there is no urgency as the bill has been already approved by President Donald Trump.

This came as Civic Passion’s Cheng Chung Tai requested a debate on the issue saying the US move has seriously affected the social, economic and livelihood interests of Hong Kong. 

But Leung said there was no urgency as Trump has already signed an executive order on this. He said lawmakers can follow up on the issue through different channels and there was no need to adjourn the debate in the Legislative Council.

He pointed out that this was the last meeting of the current Legco session and bills on the agenda must be dealt with at this meeting.

Meanwhile New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip told the media that Washington’s move was barbaric and unreasonable, saying it will only help to reduce US influence in Hong Kong.

She said Hong Kong people's access to US visas will be affected though she doubted if many Hongkongers want to go there now due to the epidemic situation there and racial discrimination. But she said some academic exchanges and some tax arrangements will be affected.

The former security minister said the move will affect Hong Kong's international status but she thinks the city's status as an international finance centre won't be affected much.

“I don’t think there will be any impact on the HongKong-US dollar link exchange rate. There are no direct measures affecting that,” she said.