Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
Biden extends deportation protection for Hong Kong
residents
AAMER MADHANI
Thu, January 26, 2023 at 9:44 a.m. PST
Biden first authorized the program, the Deferred Enforced Departure for Certain Hong Kong Citizens, in August 2021 for 18 months. It was set to expire on Feb. 5.
The decision to provide a temporary safe haven was in response to Hong Kong's sweeping national security law and other measures that undercut the rights promised when the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997.
“With this action, we are demonstrating again President Biden’s strong support for the people of Hong Kong in the face of increasing repression by the (People's Republic of China)," the White House National Security Council said in a statement. "We continue to strongly oppose the PRC’s use of its National Security Law to deny the people of Hong Kong their human rights and fundamental freedoms, undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, and chip away at Hong Kong’s remaining democratic processes and institutions.”
The Chinese government moved to stifle opposition following protests in Hong Kong in 2019 against a proposed law allowing extraditions to mainland China. Under the national security law, which took effect in June 2020, police have cracked down on opposition politicians, activists and demonstrators.
Changes were also made to Hong Kong’s election laws to reduce the number of directly elected lawmakers and give a largely pro-Beijing committee the leeway to nominate lawmakers aligned with the mainland government.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for China's embassy in Washington, said in a statement that the Biden administration move further exposed the United States' “sinister intention” to undermine stability in Hong Kong and "contain China’s development."
“We urge the U.S. to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs,” he said.
Since China imposed its national security law, at least 150 opposition politicians, activists and protesters have been taken into custody on politically motivated charges, including secession, subversion, terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or external elements, according to the White House.
Additionally, it said 1,200 political prisoners are now behind bars, and over 10,000 people have been arrested on other charges in connection with anti-government protests.
In addition to criticizing Beijing's crackdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong, Biden has repeatedly taken China to task for human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, coercive trade practices, military provocations against self-ruled Taiwan and differences over Russia’s prosecution of its war against Ukraine.
Translation
華盛頓（美聯社）- 總統喬·拜登週四簽署了一項保護在美國的香港居民被免於驅逐出境的計劃延長兩年，將保護期限延長至 2025 年 1 月。
拜登於 2021 年 8 月首次批准了為期 18 個月的 “部分香港公民延期強制離境” 計劃。 它原定於 2 月 5 日到期。
提供臨時避風港的決定, 是對香港全面的國家安全法和其他措施的回應，這些措施削弱了這個前英國殖民地於 1997 年回歸中國時所承諾的權利。
白宮國家安全委員會在一份聲明中說： “通過這一行動，我們再次表明拜登總統在面對（中華人民共和國）越來越多的鎮壓時對香港人民的大力支持” 。 “我們強烈反對中華人民共和國利用其國家安全法剝奪香港人民的人權和基本自由，破壞香港的自治，並削弱香港剩餘的民主進程和制度。”
在 2019 年香港抗議一項允許將罪犯引渡到中國大陸的擬議法律後，中國政府開始鎮壓反對派。 根據 2020 年 6 月生效的國家安全法，警方鎮壓了反對派政客、活動人士和示威者。
香港的選舉法也進行了修改，以減少直選立法會議員的人數，並讓一個主要親北京的委員會有空間缺口來提名與大陸政府保持一致的立法會議員。
中國駐華盛頓大使館發言人 Liu Pengyu 在一份聲明中表示，拜登政府此舉進一步暴露了美國破壞香港穩定和 “遏制中國發展” 的 “險惡用心” 。
他說: “我們敦促美國停止干涉香港事務” 。
據白宮稱，自中國實施國家安全法以來，至少有 150 名反對派政客、活動人士和抗議者因具有政治動機的指控被拘留，包括分裂國家、顛覆國家政權、恐怖活動以及與外國或外部勢力勾結 .
此外，它說現在有 1,200 名政治犯在獄中，超過 10,000 人因與反政府抗議活動有關的其他罪名被捕。
拜登除了批評北京鎮壓香港的民主活動人士外，還多次指責中國侵犯維吾爾人和其他少數民族的人權、脅迫性貿易行為、對自治台灣的軍事挑釁，以及中國對俄羅斯在烏克蘭發動戰爭所持的不同看法。
So, President
Biden continues
to demonstrate a strong support for the people of Hong Kong in face of
increasing repression by China, and to strongly oppose the PRC’s use of its
National Security Law to deny the people of Hong Kong their human rights and
fundamental freedoms. With these in the background, I do not think the US-China
relation will improve soon.
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