Homeland Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said on Sunday that the United States was “examining other options” after more than 50 activists were arrested in Hong Kong.
O’Brien last week labeled about 55 arrests, the largest mass arrest since China enacted a new national security law in Hong Kong, as “politicized” and “the latest of many successive nails that Beijing he threw them into the coffin of democracy in Hong Kong. . ”
“The United States was the first major country with the courage and conviction to sincerely acknowledge the true nature of the CCP regime,” O’Brien said in a statement. “It is essential that nations around the world demand responsibility from Beijing.”
“The world cannot continue to pay heavy prices for its naivety and complicity in Beijing’s irresponsible and harmful practices – whether it puts an end to the rule of law in Hong Kong or does not cooperate with health officials in the event of a pandemic,” he said. “The United States is looking at other options to respond.”
The national security adviser said President Trump
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American, Australian, Canadian and British officials condemned the arrests a joint statement dated Saturday.
“It is clear that the National Security Law is being used to eliminate dissent and opposing political views,” the diplomats said. “We call on the Hong Kong and Chinese central authorities to respect the legally guaranteed rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong without fear of arrest and detention.”
The joint declaration was signed by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
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Most of those arrested were detained because of their participation in an informal primary for late legislative elections, which officials said did not comply with the law. All but three were released on bail The Associated Press.
Last year, China backed national security law, which was designed to criminalize foreign interference, subversion and secession. Western governments and Hong Kong activists have criticized the law, saying it jeopardizes the “one-nation, two-system” rule that China agreed to when it took control of Hong Kong in 1997.
Hong Kong officials criticized the joint letter from foreign officials, saying, “We are horrified by remarks made by some overseas government officials who seemed to suggest that people with certain political beliefs should be immune to legal sanctions.”
The national security law was passed more than a year after pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong rocked the city over a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed the extradition of suspects to China.