The Hong Kong government expressed its “extreme anger” at the US decision to punish six city officials and China, calling the measure “insane, shameless and contemptible”.
The United States is trying to “intervene” in the internal affairs of China and Hong Kong and “obstruct” its efforts to safeguard national security, the city government said in a statement. statement on Saturday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Friday that the U.S. would sanction the authorities as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order on Hong Kong normalization.
The move is the latest in a series of steps the White House has taken to punish China after Beijing imposed national security laws in Hong Kong last year. The law cast doubt on whether the former colony may still have the “high degree of autonomy” promised before the British returned it to China in 1997. The United States began to revoke the “special status” enjoyed by the city, and also sanctioned officials, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
“The US acts are exhibiting double standards and hypocrisy, let alone violating international laws and the basic rules that govern international relations,” the Hong Kong government said in the statement. The excuse the US uses to punish employees was “lame” and “could hardly bear it up until challenge ”, he added.
A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong condemned the sanctions on a statement on Saturday, saying that some Western politicians are “presenting a false image” and embellishing those who are suspected of violating the National Security Act as “pro-democracy politicians and activists”.
(Updates with comments from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the last paragraph)