Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg
Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg
Hong Kong’s privacy chief has criticized the US Treasury Department for “doxxing” Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other officials by releasing her personal information as part of sanctions on her.
“The disclosure of the data of the persons concerned by the U.S. Treasury Department is apparently excessive and unnecessary,” Acting Privacy Commissioner Tony Lam said in a statement, adding that the use, or reproduction of the addresses, passport numbers and other data a crime. “It comes down to doxxing.”
The US said on Friday it was imposing sanctions on 11 Chinese officials and their allies in Hong Kong over their roles in curtailing political freedoms in the former British colony. Beijing drafted a national security law that undermined the city’s autonomy and infringed on the rights of residents, it said.
The chief executive was focused on her role in implementing Beijing’s policy of “suppression of freedom and democratic processes,” according to the US statement.
The Trump administration has escalated pressure on several fronts against China’s growing role on the world stage, which has become a major campaign issue in the upcoming US elections. President Donald Trump has threatened to take action since Chinese officials enacted the floating law in June.
China’s implementation of the law, and the reaction of major trading partners who have criticized it, could have a substantial impact on an economy in Hong Kong that has been tainted by months of historic protests against anti-government and restrictions. of coronavirus.
The sanctions also included critics of the Hong Kong government elsewhere, with a UK lawmaker repaying ropt for sidewalks on it.
In Hong Kong, the reaction has been a chorus of criticism from local officials, with Carrie Lam’s government calling the movement “shameless and contemptible”, while Beijing’s Liaison Office in the city said Washington had “miscalculated”. “
The sanctioned individuals include Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council of China, and Chris Tang, commissioner of the Hong Kong police.
“The United States of America stands with the people of Hong Kong and we will use our tools and authorities to target those who undermine their autonomy, ”Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The target group of people will have frozen every property and property in the US. But it is not clear whether any of the sanctioned officials will be financially affected. Luo Huining, the director of the Liaison Office, said he has no assets or property in any foreign country.
No obligation
Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s banking regulator, said local banks have no obligation to comply with US sanctions under Hong Kong law, and lenders must treat customers fairly in assessing whether they should continue to provide services to an individual.
Another regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, said that considering the implications of the sanctions, it is expected that intermediaries “carefully assess all legal, business and commercial risks to which they may be exposed,” adding that it expects any response to ” the restrictions will be necessary, honestly and in the interest of the “integrity of the market.”
The regulator said it was “closely monitoring the impact that sanctions may have on the workings of intermediaries, the interests of investors and the financial stability and orderliness of Hong Kong markets.”
The acting commissioner of privacy of Hong Kong said he would write to the US authorities to express disappointment over the release of the data. The CEO said in a Facebook post that she could cancel her U.S. visa, and suggested that the US Treasury may have obtained its information from a visa application in 2016 without updating its address. Sy said her U.S. visa is valid until 2026.
The younger son of Carrie Lam, who studied mathematics at Harvard, told his roommate in late July that he had to return to Hong Kong for a domestic emergency and was unreachable in the US, Hong Kong-based Factwire reported, without providing further details. Trump’s executive order on Hong Kong’s normalization could be used to ban sanctioned individuals and their family members from entering the US, the report said. Lam’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Updates with Factwire story about Lam’s son in last paragraph.)
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