Wed, Apr 02, 2025 page1

• US sanctions six HK officials for eroding autonomy

  ‘BULLY’: Beijing vowed to take strong measures against the ‘despicable’ acts by the US, while an activist lauded the effort to stop the crackdown

  • AP, HONG KONG
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  The US has sanctioned six Chinese and Hong Kong officials who it alleged were involved in “transnational repression” and acts that threaten to further erode the territory’s autonomy, with Beijing threatening to take countermeasures.

  The six officials included Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Paul Lam (林定國), Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong Dong Jingwei (董經緯) and Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee (蕭澤頤).

  “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 US Department of State said.

  

  Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Paul Lam attends a press conference following the Legislative Council’s passing of Article 23 of the Basic Law in Hong Kong on March 19 last year.

  Photo: AP

  The statement dated Monday said the six officials sanctioned were linked to entities or actions that engaged in coercing, arresting, detaining or imprisoning individuals under the authority of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, or implementing the law.

  The other three officials were Sonny Au (區志光), secretary-general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, and assistant police commissioners Dick Wong (王忠巡)and Margaret Chiu (趙詠蘭).

  Since Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 to quell the 2019 massive anti-government protests, Hong Kong authorities have prosecuted many leading activists in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

  

  Hong Kong Police Commissioner Raymond Siu speaks at a news conference in Hong Kong on Jan. 27, 2022.

  Photo: AP

  The Hong Kong office of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the sanctions, saying they again exposed the ill-intention of the US to undermine Hong Kong’s prosperity and contain China’s development.

  It urged Washington to stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs.

  “China will surely take effective countermeasures against these despicable acts by the US!” it said in a statement.

  In Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said China would take resolute countermeasures for any wrong actions by the US.

  He said the actions taken by Hong Kong police against “anti-China elements” who fled abroad were carried out according to the law and that the US has no right to interfere with the territory’s national security cases.

  Condemning the US over the sanctions, the Hong Kong government said 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 has given cover for those “who have committed these evil deeds,” and therefore it was necessary for Hong Kong 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.

  Lam said the sanctions” do not affect my work; they do not affect my life.”

  He said the sanctions represented “blatant tyrannical bullying intended to deter people from participating in safeguarding national security” in a statement.

  However, Frances Hui (許穎婷), one of the overseas-based activists targeted by the authorities, wrote on X that it was a critical step in addressing the territory’s worsening crackdown.

  She said they hoped it marked the beginning of a sustained effort to hold perpetrators accountable.
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