How long can you live in the past? That’s a question for the host of next month’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (@hkmagovhk). In Washington, @ChinaSelect Chairman @RepMoolenaar has asked the U.S. Federal Reserve to review the HKMA’s access to a U.S. dollar liquidity facility set up before the National Security Law took effect. He notes that the U.S. treated Hong Kong as a separate jurisdiction because of its rule of law, independent judiciary, and free press, and that “each of those foundations has now been removed.” Global finance chiefs heading to Hong Kong should be echoing congressional concerns and calling for a return to the rule of law and the release of political prisoners, including Jimmy Lai.

Today, the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP#) was the first to announce that the Trump administration would not renew the national emergency declared under Executive Order 13936 on #HongKong—apparently# as part of a financial concession. The Treasury Department has now confirmed that decision. The CFHK Foundation is stunned that the administration allowed U.S. policy to be announced by the CCP before informing the American public, and we strongly oppose this decision. President Trump's decision not to renew the Hong Kong national emergency is a textbook case of the appeasement and weakness that members of Congress and so-called China "hawks" have rightly condemned in the past. Compounding this failure, the concession did not even secure #JimmyLai#'s release from prison, despite the President's repeated promises to do so. Serious questions now surround the nature of these concessions and who truly benefits from them. The public deserves answers: Do sanctions on Hong Kong officials for human rights abuses remain in place? Is the administration restoring Hong Kong's economic, trade, and financial privileges? And what, precisely, has been conceded to the Chinese Communist Party? Congress must also act to codify the executive order's provisions into law, consistent with legislation it has already passed by strong bipartisan majorities. Make no mistake: repression in Hong Kong continues to intensify, and democracy advocates and freedom fighters remain behind bars. The Administration and Congress should support the people of Hong Kong at this critical moment. This decision amounts to nothing less than a betrayal.