Whereas, on December 19, 1984, the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) agreed to the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, a legal binding treaty registered with the United Nations, laying the framework guaranteeing the autonomy of Hong Kong; Whereas upon the transfer of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, the National People’s Congress, in accordance with the Joint Declaration, adopted the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region committing Beijing to maintaining a one country, two systems policy regarding Hong Kong and solidifying the autonomy of the region; Whereas the Basic Law provided the safeguards by which Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy and preserved Hong Kong’s right to self-governance and its highly regarded common law legal system committed to protecting universal human rights and upholding commercial rules and regulations; Whereas Congress adopted the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 ensuring continued special treatment of Hong Kong as separate from the People’s Republic of China and authorized the President to suspend those protections if it were determined that Hong Kong was not sufficiently autonomous from the PRC; Whereas Hong Kong’s independent legal system and strong commitment to the rule of law were paramount to its success as a global financial and banking center and establishing itself as a strong and reliable trading partner with the United States; Whereas, in the 23 years of the one country, two systems policy, the Chinese Communist Party has made repeated attempts to challenge and erode the autonomy and open society of Hong Kong, including suppression of free speech and democratic institutions; Whereas, since June 2019, the Chinese Communist Party has aggressively escalated efforts to undermined and usurp Hong Kong’s autonomy