The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it would take "drastic retaliatory measures" after the US Congress passed the Hong Kong bill.

"We strongly condemn and firmly oppose the US's passing of laws related to Hong Kong," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Canh Shuang said during a regular news conference today.

Canh's statement was made after the US House of Representatives unanimously passed the Hong Kong Democracy and Human Rights bill. A day earlier, the US Senate also passed the bill. The bill will be passed to the White House for President Donald Trump's consideration to sign into law. A source told AFP that Trump is likely to sign the bill.

The bill requires the US Secretary of State annually to certify that Hong Kong maintains its autonomy so that the special zone can enjoy preferential trade from the US, maintaining the role of the world's financial center. The bill also allows sanctions on officials who are considered human rights abuses in Hong Kong.

Mr. Canh repeated his request to the US not to interfere in the internal affairs of Hong Kong and China. "If the US side insists on taking unilateral action, China will take effective measures to respond resolutely," a spokesman of China's Foreign Ministry said, but did not specify the actions that Beijing could take.

The House of Representatives also passed a bill banning the export of some non-lethal crowd control weapons to Hong Kong police, including tear gas and pepper spray, rubber bullets and electric guns. The bill was also passed by the Senate on November 19.

China's Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned the right of US ambassador William Klein to hand a note of "strong opposition" to the US Senate's adoption of the Hong Kong Democracy and Human Rights bill. Beijing criticized the US Senate's decision, insisting it would take the necessary steps to protect national sovereignty and security.

The bills were passed by Congress in the context of recent tensions in Hong Kong when protesters occupied the university, then gathered in the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (PolyU) from 17 / 11. The majority of protesters in PolyU were arrested or left the school, with only a few remaining inside.

Hong Kong protests erupted in June to protest the extradition bill that allows criminals to be brought into jurisdictions where the Special Zone has not signed an extradition treaty, including mainland China. Although the special government announced the withdrawal of the bill, protesters still took to the streets to make other claims, including investigating the use of force by police and demanding Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to resign.