China’s parliament delayed an expected move on Friday to apply the country’s anti-sanctions law to Hong Kong, postponing a possible showdown with financial institutions that comply with US penalties targeting the territory.
Hong Kong-based executives had feared that the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp legislature, would impose its law on the territory immediately as it did with tough national security legislation last year.
According to people familiar with the deliberations, the NPC’s standing committee wanted more time to study the impact of applying the anti-sanctions law to Hong Kong. “The anti-sanctions law is a tool but China is still exploring how to use it,” one of the people said. “How Hong Kong should use the tool requires more discussion.”