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WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday (November 10) imposed sanctions on four more Chinese officials in Hong Kong’s government and security system for their alleged role in crushing dissent in the former British colony.
The US Department of the Treasury and State identified the four as Deng Zhonghua, deputy director of the Office of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs; Edwina Lau, deputy police commissioner in Hong Kong, and Li Jiangzhou and Li Kwai-wah, two officials from the recently established national security bureau in Hong Kong.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions were for his role in implementing Hong Kong’s new national security law. He said they would be barred from traveling to the United States and all U.S.-related assets would be blocked.
“These actions underscore the determination of the United States to hold accountable key figures who are actively destroying the freedoms of the Hong Kong people and undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy,” it said in a statement.
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None of the four could be immediately reached for comment.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said the sanctions were “absolutely unacceptable, blatant interference and I would use the word ‘barbaric’.”
“We are not going to be intimidated,” Cheung told reporters, speaking at a regular press conference held on Tuesday morning Hong Kong time.
Washington has called the enactment of a new national security law in Hong Kong this year an unacceptable violation of China’s commitment to “one country, two systems” to what was once China’s freest city.
The designations are the first sanctions imposed on China since Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump in the US elections last week. Biden will take office on January 20. So far, Trump has refused to admit defeat.
In actions heralding a more authoritarian era for Hong Kong, China opened a new national security office in July, a week after imposing new national security legislation to punish what it called the crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with forces. foreigners with even life in prison.
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Last month, the US State Department warned international financial institutions doing business with people held responsible for China’s crackdown in Hong Kong that they could soon face harsh sanctions.
Washington imposed sanctions on Carrie Lam, the territory’s current and former police chiefs and other top officials in August for what it said was their role in restricting freedoms in an offensive against the territory’s pro-democracy movement.
Relations between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, fell to the lowest point in decades in the run-up to last week’s US elections. The two sides are at odds on a wide range of issues, including China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its handling of Hong Kong.
