Hong Kong: China Imposes Sanction on US Senators

Sanctions will be on US citizens, high profile officials, and senators by the Chinese government over Hong Kong.

The sanction is a response to a decision the United States made by sanctioning 11 Chinese officials and allies in Hong Kong for curtailing political freedoms.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “In response to those wrong US behaviors, China has decided to impose sanctions on individuals who have behaved egregiously on Hong Kong-related issues.” 

Those on the Chinese’s sanction list are Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and Kenneth Roth, the executive director of charity Human Rights Watch, Senators Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, and Pat Toomey and Representative Chris Smith – all Republicans – as well as other individuals from non-profit organizations and rights groups.

The United States criticized Beijing for its treatment of the Uighur ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and said it would sanction top officials of the Chinese communist party. In response to the US criticism, the Chinese government announced her sanctions against Mr. Rubio and Mr. Cruz and other officials.

However, the US president signed an executive order on Friday that imposes sanctions on Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and other officials, freezing assets and stopping Americans from doing business with them.

Zhao Lijian said, “China resolutely opposes and strongly condemns such blatant interference in Hong Kong affairs,” in response to those sanctions.

“I want to reiterate that Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong and Hong Kong affairs are China’s internal affairs that no external forces can interfere in,” he added. “China urges the US to recognize the situation and correct its wrongdoings and not to go further and further on the wrong path.”

Responding to the sanctions on Twitter, Mr. Roth said the move was “little more than an effort to distract attention from its wholesale assault on the rights of the people of Hong Kong”.

In a statement, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton wrote: “Chinese Communism is the most dangerous threat to freedom in the world, and I will never back down from fighting it.

“If China thinks my opposition to its communist tyranny to date warrants these sanctions,” he added. “I have two words for them: just wait.”

However, the relationships between the two countries have been deteriorating for months. The US has publicly criticized China over its actions in Hong Kong, its persecution of the Uighur minority, and its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. President Donald Trump has frequently attempted to shift the focus towards China during the US’s worsening coronavirus situation, calling the disease the “China virus” during press briefings.