The Hong Kong government has expressed “outrage” over the US decision to sanction six city and Chinese officials, calling the move “insane, shameless and contemptuous.”
The United States is trying to “intervene” in the internal affairs of China and Hong Kong and “hinder” their efforts to protect national security, the city government said in a statement. statement on Saturday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday that the United States will sanction officials as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order on the normalization of Hong Kong.
The move is the latest in a series of measures the White House has taken to punish China after Beijing imposed national security laws in Hong Kong last year. The law questioned whether the former colony could still have the promised “high degree of autonomy” before the British returned it to China in 1997. The US began revoking the “special status” the city had enjoyed and also sanctioned officials. including executive director Carrie Lam.
“US acts manifest double standards and hypocrisy, let alone blatantly violate international laws and basic rules governing international relations,” the Hong Kong government said in a statement. The US excuse to punish officials was “lame” and “hardly resisted.” up to challenge, ”he added.
A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong condemned the sanctions in a Saturday’s statement said some Western politicians “present a false image” and embellish those suspected of violating the National Security Act as “pro-democracy politicians and activists.”
(Updates with Foreign Ministry comments in the last paragraph)