Beijing has summoned the top US diplomat to Hong Kong after the country sounded the alarm over a new rule in the financial center that empowers police to demand national security suspects surrender their passwords.
In one STATEMENT On Saturday, Beijing’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong said it had summoned Julie Eadeh, the US consul general in Hong Kong, for “solemn representations”.
The statement said the move was in response to a “so-called ‘security alert’ released from the US Consulate General on Thursday, days after the Hong Kong government introduced a new rule requiring suspects in national security investigations to hand over their electronic device passwords or help decrypt them.
Police can also compel anyone believed to know the password or how to decrypt a device under investigation to reveal such information.
Failure to do so could be punishable by up to a year behind bars and a HK$100,000 fine.
The US Consulate General said the law “applies to everyone, including US citizens, in Hong Kong arriving at or simply transiting through Hong Kong International Airport”.
Beijing’s foreign ministry in the city said in its statement that the office’s commissioner, Cui Jianchun, expressed “strong dissatisfaction and strong opposition”.
Cui urged the US to “immediately stop interfering in the affairs of Hong Kong and China’s internal affairs in any form,” the statement added.
