HONG KONG – Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu warned on Tuesday that strong retaliatory measures would be taken if Washington pressed ahead with a bill targeting three trade offices of Hong Kong in the United States.

“If the US is determined to go its way, then our country has already indicated that we will retaliate, and we will retaliate with strong and resolute measures,” Lee said replying to a related media query before the Executive Council meeting.

Condemning the passage of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act by the US House of Representatives, he said it would only harm US trade ties with Hong Kong.

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Pointing out that the figures for the past 10 years indicate the US has been making a big profit out of trade with Hong Kong – $271.5 billion with Hong Kong over 10 years, he said: “This trade surplus works to their advantage, and with any acts to damage trade relations, I think those who suffer will be the US business sector. They will be the ones to foot the bill.”

US politicians were acting for their own political gain, but that their actions will damage normal trade relations, particularly those between Hong Kong and the US, said Lee.

A lot of overseas companies including US ones have been setting up businesses in Hong Kong, he pointed out.

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More than 1,200 US companies have set up offices in Hong Kong. In the first seven months of this year, Invest Hong Kong has assisted over 350 non-local companies in setting up or expanding their businesses in the city, a 40 percent increase year-on-year, and among them, the US ranked number three, he mentioned in this connection.

“I strongly condemn the US House of Representatives for making use of the so-called Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act to slander the Hong Kong laws on safeguarding national security, and also smear the human rights situation in Hong Kong.”

The move by the US is a political tactic to suppress the development China and Hong Kong, he said.

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These are shameless and ugly political tactics, especially since the US itself has the most stringent and wide-ranging national security laws and is using them to attack its competitors, particularly when it fails to compete well, the CE said.

“On multiple occasions, it uses national security to target competitors, especially China and Hong Kong,” he added.