Beijing warns USA: Bill to close trade offices in Hong Kong drops, otherwise countermeasures threaten

The Chinese embassy in the United States has threatened strong countermeasures if the bill to close Hong Kong's commercial offices continues to advance through Congress, while city officials condemned the proposal as a “political attack to distort the facts.”

The Hong Kong government also strongly condemned US lawmakers on Wednesday for “grossly interfering in the city's internal affairs” by passing the legislation.

A day earlier, the Republican-led United States House of Representatives voted to pass two bills that would allow the closure of Hong Kong's three economic and trade offices in the country and significantly restrict Chinese-American academic exchanges.

The move was part of the Republican Party's “China Week” campaign to push Beijing-related legislation. More than a dozen bills aimed at countering China's economic, political and technological influence were also passed on Monday.

They still need to be approved by the Senate before the President can sign them and sign them into law.