The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday (May 18) that it has submitted reports to Congress under the Hong Kong Self-Government Act and has not confirmed that “any foreign financial institution knowingly” has engaged in significant transactions with those responsible for the Communist Party’s crackdown on Hong Kong. The Treasury Department said it will continue to monitor the situation.
In a statement, the Treasury Department said it investigated whether any foreign financial institutions may have knowingly conducted significant transactions with foreign persons identified in previous State Department reports to Congress through the use of both classified and unclassified sources of information, and also engaged foreign governments to ensure they understood the sanctions risks of doing business with blacklisted individuals.
“As of May 1, 2021, Treasury has not confirmed that any foreign financial institutions have knowingly conducted significant transactions with foreign persons described in the 5(a) report filed on October 14, 2020, and the updated report filed on March 16, 2021. Treasury will continue to monitor any activities that meet these criteria,” Treasury said in its report to Congress.
Under Section 5(a) of the Hong Kong Self-Government Act, which became law on July 14, 2020, within 90 days of the date of enactment of the Act, if the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, determines that any foreign person is, has, or is attempting to materially contribute to the failure of the Chinese government to meet its obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration or the Basic Law, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership with a report identifying the foreign person and clearly explaining why the person was identified and describing the activities taken as a result of the identification. Section 5(b) of the Act provides that not earlier than 30 days but not later than 60 days after the Secretary of State submits a 5(a) report, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit a 5(b) report to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership confirming whether any foreign financial institution has engaged in significant transactions with the foreign person identified in the report submitted by the Secretary of State.
On October 14, 2020, Secretary of State Pompeo of the Trump administration submitted the first 5(a) report to Congress, which identified 10 Hong Kong and Chinese Communist Party officials previously sanctioned by the United States. The Treasury Secretary submitted the first 5(b) report in December 2020, which did not identify any foreign financial institutions as having had significant transactions with those individuals identified in the report. on March 16, 2021, Secretary Blinken of the Biden administration submitted an updated report identifying 24 additional foreign nationals previously sanctioned. This Treasury Department report on Tuesday is an update to a previously filed 5(b) report.
The Treasury Department said it will continue to monitor the situation. It said Treasury will continue to update the report in accordance with the requirements of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.
In the wake of the Communist Party’s implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, the United States has successively imposed sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who have been associated with the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong and who have infringed on Hong Kong’s democracy and autonomy, including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Secretary for Justice Eva Cheng Yeuk-wah, Secretary for Security Li Ka-chiu, Commissioner of Police Tang Ping-keung, Director Xia Baolong and Deputy Director Zhang Xiaoming of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China, Liaison Officer of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Luo Huining, and 14 Vice Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, including Wang Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
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