Hong Kong may have stiffed the United States in the fight for Edward Snowden, but it’s about to be rewarded by Washington.
Deep in the 1,076-page immigration-reform bill that is poised to pass the Senate is an amendment that would waive visa requirements for citizens of certain countries.
On pages 1020-21 it adds Hong Kong to the list of 37 countries under the 27-year-old Visa Waiver Program whose citizens can come to the United States with only their passports.
Supporters of the amendment to the bill wrote that to qualify for the program, “countries must meet stringent security requirements, including . . . close bilateral law-enforcement cooperation with US authorities.”