Hong Kong – USA Six Chinese and Hong Kong officials sanctioned who claimed that they were involved in “transnational repression” and acts that threaten to erode further the autonomy of the city, and China threatened to take countermeasures.
The six officials included Secretary of Justice Paul Lam, the director of the Dong Jingwei Security Office and the Raymond Siu police commissioner.
He sanctions The tensions between Washington and Beijing are expected to increase even more commercial tariffs and other problems like Taiwan.
“Beijing and Hong Kong officials have used Hong Kong National Safety Laws extraterritorially To intimidate, silence and harass 19 prodemocratic activists who were forced to flee from abroad, including an American citizen and four other US residents, “said the United States State Department.
The statement dated Monday said that the six sanctioned officials were linked to entities or actions that were dedicated to coercing, stopping, stopping or imprisoning people under the authority of the city’s security law, or implementing the law.
The other three affected officials were Sonny Au, general secretary of the City Committee to safeguard national security, and Dick Wong and Margaret Chiu, both police officers.
Since Beijing imposed a National Security Law in 2020 to quell massive anti -government protests of 2019, the Hong Kong authorities have prosecuted many leading activists in the former British colony, which returned to the Chinese domain in 1997.
Repression has caused criticisms of foreign governments, especially because the city was promised that its civil liberties of Western style and semi -autonomy would remain intact for at least 50 years during the delivery of 1997. The governments of Beijing and Hong Kong insist that the law is necessary for the stability of the city.
In the last two years, the Hong Kong authorities have Arrest orders issued for 19 activists abroadwith rewards of $ 1 million dollars from Hong Kong ($ 128,536) to obtain information that leads to each of its arrests. The affected activists included former prodemocratic legislators Nathan Law and Ted Hui. Them too He canceled passports of some of the activists abroad under a new security law presented to the city last year.
The Hong Kong office of the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the sanctions, saying that they again presented the bad intention of the United States to undermine the prosperity of the city and contain the development of China. He urged Washington to stop interfering with the affairs of the city.
“China will surely take effective countermeasures against these despicable acts by the United States!” He said in a statement.
In Beijing, the spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun, said that China would take countermeasures resolved by any incorrect action by the United States, argued that the actions taken by the Hong Kong police against the “anti-china elements” that fled abroad were carried out in accordance with the law and that the United States does not have the right to interfere with the national security cases of the city.
The Hong Kong government strongly condemned the United States for sanctions, saying that it despises them and is not intimidated by them.
“Once again, he clearly exposed the barbarism of the United States under his hegemony, which is exactly the same as his recent tactics in bullying and coercing several countries and regions,” he said in a statement.
He said that the “fugos” mentioned by the United States government are sought for arrest because they continued to participate blatantly in activities that endanger national security abroad. He said that the United States has covered those who “have committed these evil facts” and, therefore, it was necessary for the city to take legal measures to combat acts.
“The imposition of the so -called” sanctions “with the appearance of defending human rights and democracy constitutes a demonstration of shameless hypocrisy with double ratings by the United States,” he said.
LAM, the Secretary of Justice, said that the sanctions do not affect it. “They don’t affect my work; they don’t affect my life.”
He said that the sanctions represented “shameless tyrannical bullying aimed at deter people of participating in the safeguard of national security” in a statement.
But Frances Hui, one of the activists abroad attacked by the authorities, wrote in X that it was a critical step to address the repression of the city. She said they hoped to mark the beginning of a sustained effort to hold the perpetrators.
The latest American sanctions were not the first related to the city. During the first presidential mandate of Donald Trump, his government too Sanctions imposed on Hong Kong and China officials for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.
In 2021, the United States slapped more sanctions on officials On Beijing’s repression about political freedoms in the semi -autonomous city under the former president of the United States, Joe Biden, the Administration.
