(TibetanReview.net, Apr21’25) – China has responded to the US sanctioning of six of its officials on the mainland and Hong Kong last month by announcing Apr 21 sanctions on some US congress members, government officials as well as heads of non-governmental organisations for what it called “egregious behaviour on Hong Kong-related issues”.
In a similar vein earlier, China had on Apr 1 announced sanctions on US officials for allegedly interfering in Tibet and China’s affair. This was after Secretary of State Marco Rubio had announced the day before visa restrictions on unspecified Chinese officials responsible for denying reciprocal access to the Tibetan territories under its rule.
China’s latest sanctions decision, announced by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came after Washington imposed sanctions on six local and mainland officials for their involvement in “transnational repression” targeting Hong Kong pro-democracy activists.
Announcing the sanctions, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun has described the US sanctions as a “grave violation of the principles of international law and the basic norms of international relations”.
China “strongly condemns” the US decision and will sanction “Congress members, officials and heads of NGOs who acted egregiously on Hong Kong issues”, the scmp.com Apr 21 quoted Guo as saying in a regular press briefing, without offering further details.
“Any wrong action taken by the US side on the Hong Kong-related issue will be met with resolute and reciprocal counteraction by the Chinese side,” investing.com Apr 21, likewise, quoted Guo as saying.
Earlier, in its Mar 31 decision, Washington announced sanctions on national security and other high-ranking officials who were believed to have used the semi-autonomous city’s national security laws “extraterritorially to intimidate, silence and harass 19 pro-democracy activists”.
The report said the six targeted in last month’s US sanctions were: Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok; then commissioner of police Raymond Siu Chak-yee; assistant police commissioners Dick Wong Chung-chun and Margaret Chiu Wing-lan; Sonny Au Chi-kwong, secretary general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong; Dong Jingwei, director of Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security in the city.
They were accused of “engaging in actions or policies that threaten to further erode the autonomy of Hong Kong in contravention of China’s commitments, and in connection with acts of transnational repression”, according to a statement by the US Department of State.