After US lawmakers call for sanctions on Hong Kong officials, gov’t slams ‘despicable behaviour’
Hong Kong Free Press
The Hong Kong government has hit back after US lawmakers called for sanctions to be placed on the city’s top officials, saying it would not be “intimidated by such a despicable behaviour.”
In a lengthy statement on Thursday night, a government spokesperson said a letter sent by US lawmakers urging Washington to place sanctions on Hong Kong officials contained “untruthful, slandering and smearing remarks” about the city’s efforts to safeguard national security.
“[Sanctions] grossly interfere in Hong Kong affairs which are China’s internal affairs, and violate the international law… the HKSAR despises such so-called ‘sanctions’ and is not intimidated by such a despicable behaviour,” the statement read.
The government’s comments came after a bi-partisan group of US lawmakers wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Wednesday expressing concern about the passage in March of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in Hong Kong, known locally as Article 23, and the conviction of 45 pro-democracy figures involved in the city’s largest national security case to date.
The letter said the implementation of Article 23 showed “Hong Kong authorities’ willing contribution to the [Chinese Communist Party]’s strategy to undermine the freedoms that distinguish Hong Kong from mainland China.”
Regarding the landmark national security case, lawmakers said the case “starkly exemplifies” the security law being used to “silence political opposition and intimidate those who advocate for democratic principles.”
“These actions by Hong Kong authorities represent a significant escalation in their efforts to dismantle Hong Kong’s autonomy and stifle dissent at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP),” the letter continued.
The letter was signed by the chairs of the US House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party and the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
27 officials named
After Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in June 2020 following months of protests and unrest sparked by a controversial amendment to the city’s extradition bill, the US passed laws allowing it to sanction individuals deemed to have played a role in violating human rights in the city.
Under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, the US has imposed sanctions on 39 people in Hong Kong and mainland China over actions that “threaten the peace, security, stability and autonomy” of the city,” according to the US government. The sanctions mean any property or interests they have in the US would be frozen, barring them from the right to sell or transfer them.
In Wednesday’s letter, the US lawmakers urged sanctions on 27 more Hong Kong officials, police commissioners, and prosecutors and judges handling national security cases.
The list included Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, police chief Raymond Siu and national security judges Esther Toh, Alex Lee and Johnny Chan. Toh is presiding over the high-profile national security trial of media mogul Jimmy Lai, while Chan sits on the panel for the 47 democrats case. Lee is presiding over both of those cases.
Last November, US lawmakers introduced a separate bill to sanction Hong Kong judges, prosecutors and government officials deemed to have committed human rights violations. The bill named 49 individuals.
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