Biden offers temporary ‘safe haven’ in US to Hong Kong residents

China has ‘fundamentally altered the bedrock’ of Hong Kong’s democratic institutions and ‘suppressed freedoms’, the US says.

Responding to Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, the United States will provide “safe haven” to citizens of the Chinese territory for the next 18 months, allowing thousands to extend stays in the US, the White House has said. China “has continued its assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy, undermining its remaining democratic processes and institutions, imposing limits on academic freedom, and cracking down on freedom of the press”, President Joe Biden said in a memo outlining the new policy on Thursday. “Offering safe haven for Hong Kong residents who have been deprived of their guaranteed freedoms in Hong Kong furthers United States interests in the region,” Biden said.