China’s foreign ministry vows countermeasures over US sanctions even as Hong Kong banks face blacklist threat

Name: National Security Law: The impact on Hong Kong’s activists
Uploaded: 2020-10-15T11:50:40.000Z
Duration: 9 min 9 s
Description: National Security Law: The impact on Hong Kong’s activists

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said US should stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, Chinese domestic issues

Hong Kong Autonomy Act allows the US to penalise lenders who engage in ‘significant’ transactions with blacklisted officials

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Hong Kong’s banks could face sanctions if they engage in “significant” transactions with officials blacklisted by the US over a controversial national security law. Photo: Warton Li

Chad BrayandCatherine Wong

Published: 7:50pm, 15 Oct 2020Updated: 11:47pm, 15 Oct 2020

China’s foreign ministry vowed on Thursday to enact its own countermeasures in response to the United States accusing a group of Hong Kong and mainland officials of undermining the city’s autonomy with the adoption of a controversial national security law this summer.

The US State Department on Wednesday named 10 Hong Kong and mainland officials, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, as “materially” contributing to the People’s Republic of China’s failure to meet its obligations under the Joint Declaration with the British government reached ahead of the city’s handover in 1997 and under the Basic Law, the city’s mini constitution.

“The Hong Kong issues are purely China’s internal affairs and no country has the right to make unwarranted remarks and interfere with the matter,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a press conference on Thursday, adding that China has lodged a formal protest with the US against the move.

“The US should correct its mistakes and stop interfering with Hong Kong affairs and China’s domestic politics. If the US insists on that, China will take resolute countermeasures to protect its sovereignty and national interest, and to safeguard the legal rights and interest of Chinese companies and related personnel.”

09:09

National Security Law: The impact on Hong Kong’s activists

The Hong Kong government also voiced its opposition against the US move and urged the US to refrain from taking measures that might undermine the interests of the international financial system.

A government spokesman strongly reprimanded the American authorities for publishing a report that had “totally groundless and irresponsible accusations against the HKSAR”. He defended the introduction of the national security law and criticised the US’ threat to impose sanctions on financial institutions and government officials as another example of “US hegemony”.

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