The US has sanctioned six senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials to punish China for “its ongoing crackdown on democracy,” the State Department said.
"Beijing and Hong Kong officials have used Hong Kong national security laws extraterritorially to intimidate, silence and harass 19 pro-democracy activists who were forced to flee overseas, including a US citizen and four other US residents," the department said in a statement on Monday.
In response, the US is sanctioning six individuals who have "engaged 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," it said.
Those sanctioned include Sonny Chi Kwong Au, the Secretary-General for the Committee for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, and Raymond Chak Yee Siu, the Police Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force.
The others were identified as Dong Jingwei, Dick Chung Chun Wong, Margaret Wing Lan Chiu and Paul Ting Kwok Lam.
As a result of the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the sanctioned persons that are in the US or in possession or control of US persons are blocked, the department added.
Hong Kong condemns US sanctions
The Hong Kong government strongly condemned the US for the sanctions, saying it despises them and is not intimidated by them.
"It, once again, clearly exposed the US' barbarity under its hegemony, which is exactly the same as its recent tactics in bullying and coercing various countries and regions," it said in a statement.
It said the "absconders" mentioned by the US government are wanted for arrest because they continued to blatantly engage in activities endangering national security overseas.
It said the US had given cover for those "who have committed these evil deeds," and therefore, it was necessary for the city to take lawful measures to combat the acts.
"The imposition of the so-called 'sanctions' in the guise of defending human rights and democracy indeed constitute a demonstration of shameless hypocrisy with double standards on the part of the US," it said.
