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The US has imposed sanctions on senior Chinese and Hong Kong security officials for transnational repression and degrading the autonomy of the territory, in a significant move against Beijing by the Trump administration.
Washington placed the sanctions on six officials, including the commissioner of the Hong Kong police force, in response to China’s crackdown on pro-democracy activists in the territory.
Officials in Beijing and Hong Kong “have used Hong Kong national security laws extraterritorially to intimidate, silence, and harass 19 pro-democracy activists who were forced to flee overseas, including a US citizen and four other US residents”, the state department said on Monday.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a statement that the six were being penalised for “their role as leaders or officials of the Hong Kong government that have engaged in actions or policies that have degraded the autonomy of Hong Kong, including in connection with transnational repression targeting individuals residing in the United States”, and for their roles in developing and implementing the territory’s tough national security law.
The law imposes life imprisonment for treason and increases sentences for crimes such as sedition. It has fuelled concerns that civil liberties are being eroded as China exerts more control over the territory. Hong Kong has struggled to repair its global reputation since Beijing embarked on its crackdown.
The individuals targeted by the US are all security or police officials, including Dong Jingwei, a senior figure in China’s Ministry of State Security, the country’s primary civilian intelligence organisation, and Raymond Siu, commissioner of Hong Kong’s police force. The others are Sonny Au, Dick Wong, Margaret Chiu and Paul Lam.
The Trump administration’s move comes a day before it unveils so-called reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world, when it is expected to impose additional tariffs on Beijing.
Since President Donald Trump took office he has imposed 20 per cent levies on goods from China, which the White House said were intended to pressure Beijing to crack down on companies that made the ingredients for fentanyl.
Monday’s sanctions come after the administration put dozens of Chinese entities on an export blacklist in an effort to slow China’s ability to develop advanced artificial intelligence chips, hypersonic weapons and military-related technology.
The new sanctions pick up where the administration left off during Trump’s first presidency. At the end of his first term in 2021, the president took a series of actions against China, including putting sanctions on top Chinese officials in response to the pro-democracy crackdown in Hong Kong.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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