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tech companies were increasingly on guard against China even before the national security law, with concerns rising about whether they were Experts said, though, that they expect the companies to be deliberate before potentially hardening their stance further, especially if they see some benefit to Hong Kong residents to continue to offer encrypted messaging platforms, for example. According to the US Department of State, 85,000 US citizens lived in Hong Kong in 2018, and more than 1,300 US companies operate there, including nearly every major US financial firm.The territory is also a major destination for US legal and accounting services.Al Jazeera's Divya Gopalan, reporting from Hong Kong, said Washington's move has worried businesses in the city. Hong Kong is a part of China, but it has a unique history that affects the way people from Hong Kong (also known as Hongkongers) interact with and perceive the mainland today.
They are repressing the most open corner of China," said Paul Barrett, deputy director of New York University’s Center for Business and Human Rights. "Hong Kong is a re-exporting hub, which means that goods and services come through Hong Kong into the US to avoid those trade sanctions or restrictions that China … China's Hong Kong security law is also about winning the hearts and minds of the next generation. India last month Experts in tech policy and U.S.-China relations said they expected the biggest tech corporations to proceed carefully, watching for how the new law in Hong Kong is enforced and whether the Chinese government puts new demands on their services.There’s a divide among U.S. tech companies, though, between those that have a limited presence in mainland China such as Google or Facebook — which, consequently, don’t have as much to lose from pushing human rights in Hong Kong — and those with more extensive or complicated business there such as Apple.Apple said Monday that it does not receive any requests for user data directly from Hong Kong authorities, instead requiring that they go through a mutual legal assistance treaty in which the U.S. Justice Department reviews such requests. "What’s going on in Hong Kong lays bare what the Chinese system really is all about. Hong Kong's sovereignty was handed back to China by Britain in 1997 and certain rights were supposed to be guaranteed for at least 50 years under … The government was forced to use substantial Political debates after the transfer of sovereignty have centred around the region's The regional government is composed of three branches: Move comes after Trump signed a law and an executive order to punish China for its 'aggressive actions' in Hong Kong.China has said it would retaliate after US President Donald Trump ordered an end to preferential trade treatment for Hong Kong and signed legislation allowing sanctions over Beijing's enactment of a draconian security law in the semi-autonomous city. In a statement on Wednesday, China's foreign ministry said it "firmly opposes and strongly condemns" the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which unanimously passed the US Congress earlier this month and approves sanctions on Chinese officials and banks over Beijing's clampdown in Hong Kong. (The company also said that encryption keys for Hong Kong users are still kept in U.S. data centers, not in China.)U.S. A lot of people will be leaving Hong Kong. The Broadband Internet access is widely available, with 92.6 per cent of households connected. "Their freedom has been taken away; their rights have been taken away," Trump added. More than 90 per cent of Hong Kong's food is imported, including nearly all its meat and rice.Although the territory had one of Asia's largest manufacturing economies during the latter half of the colonial era, Hong Kong's economy is now dominated by the service sector.
"We’re assessing the new law, which went into effect less than a week ago, and we have not received any content requests since the law went into effect," Apple said in a statement. It used to be relatively easy for U.S. tech companies to do business in Hong Kong: Its government was largely autonomous from mainland China, and its citizens were guaranteed certain freedoms.But after China passed a national security law last week that restricts free speech in Hong Kong, tech companies are having to rethink how they can continue to operate in the region, if at all, without becoming complicit in the repression of dissidents.The fear among app developers and human rights advocates is that the Chinese government could begin demanding account information or other online data about Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters in ways they haven't before.Analysts said it would not only be a drastic change for the former British colony but also raise the specter that "Now companies have a question they’re facing, which is, are they going to have to comply with a Chinese-style regime in Hong Kong?"