Dear ,

As a constituent in [City, State] (zip #####), I am writing to ask for your co-sponsorship of S.490 | H.R. 1103 The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act. This bicameral bipartisan legislation would force a review of the preferential treatment that Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOs) currently receive under U.S. law. These organizations may have deserved special treatment when they represented a relatively autonomous Hong Kong; they now operate as little more than propaganda machines for the Chinese Communist Party. We believe this charade must come to an end.
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The HKETOs are official representative offices of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, were founded after the British handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997. The U.S.HKETOs currently operate in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. They serve no consular functions, but U.S. law gives the offices and their employees diplomatic privileges, exemptions, and immunities.

In the treaty governing the handover, the PRC committed to affording Hong Kong a "high degree of autonomy." Permission to operate HKETOS in the United States was predicated on the understanding that the PRC would honor that commitment. Over the last several years, the PRC has instead thoroughly abrogated this commitment. In June 2020, the PRC tightened its grip on the city with the passage of the draconian National Security Law, which targets the basic freedoms and independence once enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong. The sad fact is that Hong Kong can no longer claim autonomous status as the U.S. recognized following the enactment of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019. Allowing the PRC to operate a separate diplomatic office in the U.S. now confers a privilege that it does not deserve.

Your support is crucial, as more and more democratic countries are establishing policies to reject propaganda in their home soil.

Best regards,