WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered a two-year extension of a program permitting Hong Kong residents within the United States — lots of whom fled repressive Chinese rule — to remain past the expiry of their visas.
The extension, simply days earlier than this system was attributable to run out, was possible so as to add to tensions between Beijing and Washington, already excessive over Taiwan, commerce disputes, and Chinese backing for Russia.
Biden stated the United States is “offering safe haven for Hong Kong residents who have been deprived of their guaranteed freedoms in Hong Kong.”
This “furthers United States interests in the region,” he stated in a presidential memorandum.
“The United States supports the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the residents of Hong Kong. The People’s Republic of China has continued to erode those rights and freedoms, and as such I am directing an extension and expansion of the deferral of removal of certain Hong Kong residents,” Biden stated.
Biden laid out what he described because the Chinese communist authorities’s “assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy” and undermining of remaining democratic establishments.
This consists of at the least 150 arrests of politicians and activists on politically motivated nationwide safety fees resembling subversion since 2020, with greater than 1,200 political prisoners, he stated.
“There are compelling foreign policy reasons to extend” the visa clemency program, often called Deferred Enforced Departure, Biden stated.
The earlier program was attributable to expire on February 5. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
