US sanctions Chinese officials over Hong Kong

By Choekyi Lhamo

DHARAMSHALA, Dec. 10: The US State Department announced sanctions on Monday against 14 members of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) responsible for the resolution that expelled four opposition legislators for supporting Hong Kong independence and undermining Beijing’s sovereignty. The 13 men and one woman are all vice chairpersons of the NPC’s standing committee who have now been sanctioned with asset-freezes and are banned for travel to the US.

“These actions demonstrate once again Beijing’s complete disregard for its international commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a U.N.-registered treaty,” remarked US State Secretary Mike Pompeo. Chinese Foreign Minister Hua Chunying has denounced the move as “hysterical political bullying” on Tuesday and vowed to respond with “vigorous countermeasures”. China’s top agency Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing blamed Pompeo for the provocation, “If Pompeo and his like continue with this last madness, they will only end up hurting themselves.”

China passed a resolution last month disqualifying opposition lawmakers from the Legislative council which prompted other leaders to resign en masse. The city’s pro-democracy legislators had 19 seats in the 70-seat legislature; all those members have left either by resigning or by being dismissed. Prominent local activist Joshua Wong was also sentenced to more than a year in prison for leading a protest in 2019 outside police headquarters.

“Our actions today underscore that the United States will continue to work with our allies and partners to hold Beijing accountable for undermining Hong Kong’s promised autonomy. The United States again urges Beijing to abide by its international commitments and to heed the voices of many countries, which have condemned its actions,” concluded the statement by the US State Department.