Hong Kong No Longer Autonomous From China, Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Says - NPR

Bystanders watch from footbridges Wednesday as riot police stand guard below outside a building in Hong Kong.

Bystanders watch from footbridges Wednesday as riot police stand guard below outside a building in Hong Kong.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he has reported to Congress that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, a move that may have major implications for the trade relationship between the U.S.

"After careful study of developments over the reporting period, I certified to Congress today that Hong Kong does not continue to warrant treatment under United States laws in the same manner as U.S.

For more than two decades, the semiautonomous region has been governed under a principle Beijing calls "one country, two systems," which allows Hong Kong certain freedoms from the communist economic and legal systems practiced on mainland China.

While the United States once hoped that free and prosperous Hong Kong would provide a model for authoritarian China, it is now clear that China is modeling Hong Kong after itself."