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A US law supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong may unsettle trade talks with China, but is unlikely to derail them, analysts say.

The US president has signed into law a bill that requires an annual review of Hong Kong’s special status with the US.
Hong Kong has seen months of increasingly violent clashes between protesters and the police.
The law comes as the world’s two largest economies are trying to end their trade war.

US President Donald Trump said he signed the law, known as the Human Rights and Democracy Act, “out of respect for President Xi (Jinping), China, and the people of Hong Kong”.

China responded strongly, with its foreign ministry threatening “counter-measures “if the US continued” going down the wrong path”.

Michael Hirson at Eurasia Group said that Mr Trump’s signing of the bill “will not derail trade negotiations”.
“To be sure, Beijing is angered at the US for interfering in what China considers its domestic affairs and for emboldening the protest movement,” he said.

“But some of China’s anger over the bill is posturing for the domestic audience, and Beijing will not be so upset as to let this stand in the way of a truce over trade.”

What’s at stake?
Analysts say the US and China both want to keep the negotiations from stalling, given that stakes are high.
They have been fighting a trade for more than a year, placing tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s goods.
China faces another round of US duties on December 15, and if talks break down, these are likely to go ahead.

That would place an additional burden on an economy which is already growing at its slowest pace in decades.
The US also wants to avoid higher costs and economic hardship for American consumers, particularly ahead of US elections next year.
The US and China have been negotiating a trade deal for months

The December tariffs are concentrated on consumer goods and would therefore have “a bigger impact on inflation and households than previous rounds of tariffs did”, said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.
“The Trump administration appears reluctant to go ahead with the December tariffs because we’re reaching the stage where tariffs are starting having a negative impact on the US economy,” he added.
“There are still incentives on both sides to push for a deal, provided they can agree on the terms.” — BBC.