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Early Wednesday morning in Asia, the Bloomberg came out with a news story that the United States (US) House passed a bill, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which requires an annual audit of whether the city is sufficiently autonomous from Beijing to justify its special trading status under the US law.

Key quotes

“The bill provides for sanctions against officials “responsible for undermining fundamental freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong.””

“A similar bill is also before the Senate, though the timing of a vote there remains uncertain. The legislation has bipartisan support in both chambers.”

“”China strongly urges certain people in the U.S. Congress to grasp the situation, immediately stop advancing the bill regarding Hong Kong and interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs to avoid further damaging China-U.S. relations,” said Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

FX implications

Although the news failed to offer any direct market impact, the same could negatively affect the US-China trade negotiations that are passing through a happy time. As a result, risk-off is likely to return to the desk if the Chinese diplomats react to the news during the day.