Beijing has responded to the US sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese politicians. The list includes 11 US officials including Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
China on Monday, August 10, announced the sanctions against 11 US officials. This was stated by the representative of the PRC Foreign Ministry Wang Zhao Lijian.
“These sanctions come into force today and apply to 11 people,” he said.
The sanctions are imposed in response to similar US actions against officials in mainland China and Hong Kong.
According to the diplomat, this decision affected Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, several more American politicians.
The retaliation takes effect on August 10, in response to Washington’s decision to impose sanctions on 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials – including the head of government, Carrie Lam – whom the US accuses of “undermining the autonomy of Hong Kong “and restrict political freedoms in the city.
The US Treasury indicated that the sanctions are an extension of the Hong Kong Autonomy Law that US President Donald Trump signed on July 14 after the adoption of the national security law by China.
Beijing, in turn, denounced the new sanctions by Washington seeking to intervene in Hong Kong’s internal affairs. In the same terms, the Hong Kong government called the US sanctions “shameless and despicable.”
The new national security law for Hong Kong, enacted in Beijing at the end of last June, criminalizes acts of subversion, terrorism, secession, foreign-influenced conspiracy and others that threaten the security of the territory. China rejects any criticism of security law and contends that Hong Kong issues are its domestic matter.
In July, Beijing had already applied sanctions against Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and other US officials in response to measures imposed by Washington against Chinese officials from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
