Support for closure amplified as China implemented national security law in Hong Kong a year later which was seen as an erosion to the city's autonomy.

[4] In May 2024, British police uncovered an operation by the London HKETO that targets exiled Hong Kong activists, renewing calls to close the trade missions in both the UK and the US.

Marco Rubio from the Senate and Chris Smith from the House, who was the chair of Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), introduced the bill a month later,[2][5] which was later lapsed as the 117th Congress came to an end.

It calls on the President of the United States to "remove the extension of certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the HKETOs" and terminate their operations within 180 days if they determine that Hong Kong no longer enjoys a high degree of autonomy from China.

[2] Commerce Secretary Algernon Yau said the bill is "purely political" without benefiting oneself, while Executive Council convenor Regina Ip urged US president Joe Biden not to sign the act.