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The US administration has imposed sanctions on Hong Kong’s leader and a number of other key officials over a security law that China enacted for the semi-autonomous region in late June.
The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it was freezing US-based assets of Chief Executive Carrie Lam and 10 other senior officials in Hong Kong, also criminalizing any financial transactions with the aforementioned individuals.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed in a statement that Lam was sanctioned because she is “is directly responsible for implementing Beijing’s policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes.”
Mnuchin went on to say that, “The United States stands with the people of Hong Kong and we will use our tools and authorities to target those undermining their autonomy.”
Moreover, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the sanctions, accusing Beijing of violating its promise of autonomy that it had made to Hong Kongers before they gained independence from the British rule more than two decades ago.
Following last year’s anti-government protests, Beijing introduced in late June a new national security law that criminalizes sedition, secession, and subversion against the mainland. The law also paves the way for Chinese national security institutions to operate in the city for the first time since 1997, when Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule. Those offenses are punishable by sentences of up to life in prison.
Protests erupted in Hong Kong after the law was proposed on May 22.
Skeptics say the new law would be a blow to the territory’s autonomy and civil liberties, but Beijing has assured that the law would target a minority of individuals who disregard law and order in Hong Kong, which was rocked last year by riots over a now-shelved extradition bill.
