HONG KONG (Reuters) - China s top legislature has postponed a vote on extending an anti-sanctions law to Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post said on Friday, as global banks and other financial institutions fret over the impact it could have on their operations. Beijing was expected to formally approve the law for the Chinese-ruled city on Friday to counter actions by foreign governments amid escalating geopolitical tensions. The central government hopes to listen to further views on the matter, the newspaper cited a mainland source as saying. Financial firms have been closely watching a meeting this week of the National People s Congress Standing Committee, the highest body of China s parliament, for signs on how and when the legislation will be introduced in Hong Kong. Beijing introduced the law in mainland China in June under which individuals or entities involved in making or implementing discriminatory measures against Chinese citizens or entities could be put on a mainland ant
By Greg Torode, Anne Marie Roantree and James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - The top U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong said the imposition of a new national security law had created an atmosphere of coercion that threatens both the city s freedoms and its standing as an international business hub. In unusually strident remarks to Reuters this week, U.S. Consul-General Hanscom Smith called it appalling that Beijing s influence had vilified routine diplomatic activities such as meeting local activists, part of a government crackdown on foreign forces that was casting a pall over the city . Smith s remarks highlight deepening concerns over Hong Kong s sharply deteriorating freedoms among many officials in the administration of President Joe Biden one year after China s parliament imposed the law. Critics of the legislation say the law has crushed the city s democratic opposition, civil society and Western-style freedoms. The foreign forces issue is at the heart of the crimes of collusion with for