The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization
Record date: 2020-07-17
Executive Order 13936 of July 14, 2020 The President's Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-393), the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 ( Public Law 116-76 ), the Hong Kong Autonomy Act of 2020, signed into law July 14, 2020, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq .) (IEEPA), the
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2020-15646
- Publication date
- 2020-07-17
- Citation
- 85 FR 43413
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
Executive Order 13936 of July 14, 2020 The President's Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-393), the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 ( Public Law 116-76 ), the Hong Kong Autonomy Act of 2020, signed into law July 14, 2020, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq .) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq .) (NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 ( 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) ), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code , I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, determine, pursuant to section 202 of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, that the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) is no longer sufficiently autonomous to justify differential treatment in relation to the People's Republic of China (PRC or China) under the particular United States laws and provisions thereof set out in this order. In late May 2020, the National People's Congress of China announced its intention to unilaterally and arbitrarily impose national security legislation on Hong Kong. This announcement was merely China's latest salvo in a series of actions that have increasingly denied autonomy and freedoms that China promised to the people of Hong Kong under the 1984 Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong (Joint Declaration). As a result, on May 27, 2020, the Secretary of State announced that the PRC had fundamentally undermined Hong Kong's autonomy and certified and reported to the Congress, pursuant to sections 205 and 301 of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, as amended, respectively, that Hong Kong no longer warrants treatment under United States law in the same manner as United States laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1, 1997. On May 29, 2020, I directed the heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) to begin the process of eliminating policy exemptions under United States law that give Hong Kong differential treatment in relation to China. China has since followed through on its threat to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong. Under this law, the people of Hong Kong may face life in prison for what China considers to be acts of secession or subversion of state power—which may include acts like last year's widespread anti-government protests. The right to trial by jury may be suspended. Proceedings may be conducted in secret. China has given itself broad power to initiate and control the prosecutions of the people of Hong Kong through the new Office for Safeguarding National Security. At the same time, the law allows foreigners to be expelled if China merely suspects them of violating the law, potentially making it harder for journalists, human rights organizations, and other outside groups to hold the PRC accountable for its treatment of the people of Hong Kong. I therefore determine that the situation with respect to Hong Kong, including recent actions taken by the PRC to fundamentally undermine Hong Kong's autonomy, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, ( printed page 43414) foreign policy, and economy of the United States. I hereby declare a national emergency with respect to that threat. In light of the foregoing, I hereby determine and order: Section 1 . It shall be the policy of the United States to suspend or eliminate different and preferential treatment for Hong Kong to the extent permitted by law and in the national security, foreign policy, and economic interest of the United States. Sec. 2 . Pursuant to section 202 of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 ( 22 U.S.C. 5722 ), I hereby suspend the application of section 201(a) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 5721(a) ), to the
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