US sanctions Chinese legislators for national security law on Hong Kong
- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cites 14 lawmakers, including Wang Chen, vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee
- A bill giving Hongkongers ‘temporary protected status’ in US for five years passes the House of Representatives and now heads to the Senate
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced sanctions on top officials in China’s legislature for the body’s enforcement of a controversial national security law imposed on Hong Kong.
The move is the latest in a series of measures meant to punish Beijing for what the US government sees as an erosion of the city’s autonomy, and came as a bill that would let Hongkongers live temporarily in America began to make its way through Congress.
The 14 individuals targeted by Pompeo on Monday include Wang Chen, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top lawmaking body; and Cao Jianming, chief prosecutor of the government’s Supreme People‘s Procuratorate.
The sanctions bar the officials from entry into the US, and are authorised by US President Donald Trump’s executive order concerning Hong Kong in July, which instituted many changes in Washington’s treatment of Hong Kong as distinct from China.
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“Beijing’s unrelenting assault against Hong Kong’s democratic processes has gutted its legislative council, rendering the body a rubber stamp devoid of meaningful opposition,” Pompeo said.
“One aspect of that assault has been the actions of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), which have effectively neutered the ability of the people of Hong Kong to choose their elected representatives in keeping with the Joint Declaration and Basic Law,” he said.
“The Department of State is holding accountable those responsible for these brazen acts.”
Responding to earlier reports that Pompeo was planning more sanctions against Chinese officials, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, told a news conference in Beijing on Monday that China would “take the necessary countermeasures” if the reports are confirmed.
The national security law, which was passed by Beijing in June, aims to prevent, stop and punish acts identified as secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and foreign interference. Opposition politicians and critics warn it could be used to suppress dissent and erode freedom in the city.
“Using Hong Kong to infiltrate and sabotage the touches on our bottom line, it is absolutely not tolerable,” he said.
Pompeo, who will be handing over the State Department to a new administration next month, has been issuing restrictions and edicts regarding China on an almost daily basis, deepening US-China rifts ahead of the inauguration of Trump’s successor, Joe Biden.
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The fact that Pompeo’s tenure is coming to an end has kept Beijing’s responses to his moves more restrained than they might otherwise have been, said Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Centre’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States.
“The State Department’s salvoes will be countered rhetorically, but Beijing is unlikely to take concrete action unless it sees a direct threat to its interests,” he said.
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“Most of the Trump administration’s recent actions are either ignorable or reversible, and it is telling that Trump himself seems detached from these broadsides and that he hasn’t recanted – although he hasn’t repeated – his praise for [Chinese President] Xi Jinping.
“While some Trump administration statements may succeed in boxing in President Biden, they also lock in Chinese popular perceptions of the United States as a reckless, intractable actor,” Daly added.
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Following that change, four opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council were removed; the remaining 15 opposition lawmakers then resigned in protest.
Efforts to pressure Beijing to ease its hard line against opposition leaders in Hong Kong have also been coming from the US Congress.
The House of Representatives on Monday passed the Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act of 2020, which would give Hong Kong residents “temporary protected status” in the United States for five years, a move that will need the Senate’s approval before heading to Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
The bill would also expedite processing of refugee applications for Hongkongers, which will not be subject to the Trump administration‘s existing cap on overall refugee admissions.
“Welcoming Hongkongers to the United States is more than a humanitarian gesture – it’s a message to the Chinese government that if you crush Hong Kong, you may lose the very people who most contribute to its vitality,” said Representative Tom Malinowski, Democrat of New Jersey, a sponsor of the bill.
“It’s about fighting a closed and fearful system with the openness and self-confidence of ours.”
