China on Wednesday threatened to sanction US officials, saying new measures put into place by President Donald Trump against Beijing in response to its crackdown on Hong Kong amount to "gross interference" in "China's internal affairs."
The threat came shortly after Trump on Tuesday signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which received rare bipartisan approval in Congress, and a new executive order revoking preferential status for the former British colony and global economic hub.
In a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said of Beijing's new control over Hong Kong residents, "Their freedom has been taken away. Their rights have been taken away. And with it, goes Hong Kong."
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded with a statement blasting the move, saying it "seriously violates international law and the basic norms underpinning international relations."
"In order to safeguard its legitimate interests, China will make necessary response and sanction the relevant individuals and entities in the United States," according to the statement.
"We urge the US side to correct its mistakes, not to enforce the so-called 'Hong Kong Autonomy Act,' and stop interfering in Hong Kong and other internal affairs of China in any way.
"If the US side insists on going in the wrong direction, China will respond resolutely."
The latest moves come amid growing tensions between the world's two largest economies. Trump administration has broadly criticized Beijing in recent months for not doing more to stop the spread of the coronavirus at the outset of the pandemic as the cases count climbs in the US. Earlier this week, Secretary of State, Mr Mike Pompeo announced a new, more aggressive approach to counter Chinese claims in contested areas of the South China Sea – shortly after Beijing imposed sanctions against a collection of US senators.
The weight of the sanctions imposed by China are not entirely clear, though the economic measures are seen as largely symbolic acts of retaliation.
China relies heavily on the size and access of Hong Kong's markets, but it also sees its oversight of the former British colony as central to its legitimacy, analysts say, along with its influence over Taiwan and Tibet. It has increasingly resisted foreign powers that seek to undermine that control.
The latest US moves mean it will now treat Hong Kong as no different than China economically and subject to the same trade and travel restrictions.
"It is unfortunate, but necessary, for the president to use these measures in response to the alarming actions taken by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), especially the imposition of the national security law," Jim Risch of Idaho, the Republican chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
"The draconian law subjects the people of Hong Kong to CCP's authoritarianism, and puts every Hong Konger, as well as US citizens in Hong Kong, at risk."
Chinese officials first revealed publicly in late May that they planned to impose greater control over Hong Kong, home to widespread and at-times violent pro-democracy protests in recent months. New sweeping national security laws afford Beijing greater control over the restive city, including allowing its security services to operate there, and greater authority to detain people it suspects of terrorism.
Analysts believed the new forms of control would not take effect until the late summer or early fall.
Instead China pressed ahead, saying the Trump administration was "bluffing" in threatening to impose economic sanctions. Chinese state media has regularly chided the Trump administration for involving itself in what Beijing considers domestic affairs while the US continues to face climbing cases of the coronavirus and widespread protests centering on racial injustice.
Hong Kong had operated under a set of norms known as "one country, two systems" that allowed it some degree of autonomy since it came under Chinese rule in 1997. That arrangement with the British government was supposed to endure for at least 50 years.
US News & World Report
