China imposes counter-sanctions on former U.S. commerce secretary Ross, others

China said on Friday that it has imposed counter-sanctions on U.S. individuals including former U.S. commerce secretary Wilbur Ross in response to U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials with Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong.

The sanctions are the first imposed by China under its new anti-foreign sanction law, passed in June, and come days before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is due to visit China amid deeply strained ties.

China also imposed unspecified “reciprocal counter-sanctions” on the current or former heads of a range of organizations, including the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, International Republican Institute, Human Rights Watch, and on the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council.