If President Trump is looking for an early opportunity to strike back at China<\/a> amid the coronavirus crisis, one is about to land on his doorstep.<\/p>\n

Under a deadline set by Congress<\/a> last year, the administration is supposed to certify by Monday whether China<\/a> is respecting the autonomy of Hong Kong, and whether China<\/a> is abusing special trade privileges the U.S. still allotts to the territory, but not to China<\/a> itself.<\/p>\n

If the administration can\u2019t certify China<\/a>\u2019s compliance, it\u2019s supposed to trigger a series of sanctions \u2014 including possible punitive tariffs and loss of visa travel privileges.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s decision took on added heft Thursday after reports that China\u2019s legislature was preparing to impose new national security rules on Hong Kong in the wake of protests that embarrassed the Beijing<\/a>-backed government.<\/p>\n

At the White House, the president said he\u2019s waiting to see what China<\/a> actually does.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it happens, we\u2019ll address that issue very strongly,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

Sen. Marco Rubio<\/a>, Florida Republican and author of the 2019 law, said it gives Mr. Trump a clear response to China<\/a>\u2019s latest moves.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress<\/a> provided the U.S. government with powerful tools when it passed my bipartisan Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, and the administration should use this law to hold Beijing<\/a> accountable,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is in the interest of the United States to respond swiftly to Beijing<\/a>\u2019s repeated attacks on Hong Kongers, their autonomy, and their basic rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HRDA, as the 2019 law is known, passed in the wake of the Hong Kong protests, with a near-unanimous Congress<\/a> trying to prod China<\/a>. Now amid coronavirus, it\u2019s taken on added significance as a potential flash point amid already escalating tensions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all eyes firmly fixed on COVID-19, Chinese President Xi Jinping is exploiting the pandemic his own government enabled to escalate the persecution and oppression of the great people of Hong Kong,\u201d said Rep. Chris Smith, who wrote the House version of the HRDA.<\/p>\n

Britain, the longtime colonial master in Hong Kong, turned the territory over to China<\/a> in 1997 under a treaty that bound Beijing<\/a>\u2019s Communist rulers to respect Hong Kong\u2019s autonomy as a special administrative region and to leave its liberal economy and government for 50 years under the formulation \u201cone country, two systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn plain sight, China<\/a> is breaking its word to uphold human rights, rule of law and high degree of autonomy embedded in the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration,\u201d the New Jersey Republican told The Washington Times. \u201cI am confident the Commerce Department will faithfully report the facts to Congress<\/a> along with such penalties and actions commensurate with Xi Jinping\u2019s anti-democracy crackdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon G. Chang, who studies China<\/a> and the Far East, said that if the administration follows the law, there\u2019s no question it should deem China<\/a> to have violated the terms of Hong Kong\u2019s autonomy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the facts are clear that it is not possible to certify that Hong Kong should be entitled to the exemptions, because Beijing<\/a> has made it clear it intends to take away all the vestiges of Hong Kong quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. has sanctions on some dealings with China<\/a>, such as licensing technology. But under the theory that Hong Kong has autonomy, it has granted exemptions to the territory.<\/p>\n

The point of the HRDA was to make clear that if China<\/a> is violating that autonomy, the reasons for the exemptions disappear.<\/p>\n

That was supposed to be a carrot enticing China<\/a> to respect its promises toward Hong Kong, but if the U.S. follows through on the sanctions, it could end up hurting Hong Kong by reducing its importance as a global financial and trade mecca.<\/p>\n

Mr. Chang says Beijing<\/a> is forcing America\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about is, is Hong Kong run autonomously,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have seen, especially since the latter part of last year and especially this year, Beijing<\/a> has taken full control of the government. So I don\u2019t see what the justification for the exemptions is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump is facing intense pressure from both parties on Capitol Hill to be more assertive toward China<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ben Cardin, Maryland Democrat, joined Mr. Rubio<\/a> Thursday in calling on the president to flex the HRDA to support Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

The bipartisan pressure goes well beyond the immediate threats to Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

A number of lawmakers have announced proposals to allow Americans to sue the Chinese government in U.S. courts to recover costs from fighting the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

One senator is planning legislation to crack down on China<\/a>\u2019s attempts to steal American research, while another proposed a ban on Chinese-made drones being allowed into the U.S., calling it a security risk.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week the Senate passed legislation that would delist Chinese companies from U.S. stock markets if they are deemed to be controlled by Beijing<\/a>, or otherwise lacking in transparency. The bill passed without objection.<\/p>\n

The HRDA, which cleared Congress<\/a> in November, was also overwhelmingly popular. Only a single lawmaker in either chamber, Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, voted against it.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump at the time said he was pondering a veto, saying the legislation could sour his attempts to strike a trade deal with China<\/a>. But such a veto would likely have been futile, given the near-unanimous level of support on Capitol Hill, virtually guaranteeing Congress<\/a> could have overridden him.<\/p>\n

Instead, the president signed the law \u2014 with a caveat.<\/p>\n

He issued a signing statement complaining that \u201ccertain provisions\u201d would interfere with his conduct of foreign policy, and he would treat those provisions \u201cconsistently with the President\u2019s constitutional authorities with respect to foreign relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Rubio<\/a> told The Times he expects Mr. Trump to abide by the terms of the legislation \u2014 including the deadlines.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress<\/a> was clear when it passed, in a nearly unanimous fashion, my Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, and I fully expect the State Department to comply with the law,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment about the deadline, but made its displeasure with the law readily known last year.<\/p>\n

Xinhua, the state news agency, refers to the law as a \u201cso-called act\u201d and gleefully quotes top Communist Party officials indignantly denouncing the law as a \u201cplot\u201d to undermine China<\/a>\u2019s sovereignty, saying that what happens in Hong Kong is an internal affair.<\/p>\n

\u201cHong Kong is part of China<\/a> and Hong Kong affairs are China<\/a>\u2019s internal affairs and no foreign government or force shall interfere,\u201d Xinhua quoted the government as saying in November.<\/p>\n

Xinhua refers to the 1997 handover as Hong Kong\u2019s \u201creturn to the motherland\u201d and says China<\/a> is committed to \u201cone country, two systems.\u201d<\/p>\n