US not saying if it will ban sales of tear gas and other riot-control gear to Hong Kong police
- A weekend of violent clashes between police and protesters and a citywide strike raise the question of whether US will follow Britain’s example
- US lawmakers want the government to announce it ‘will not contribute to the internal repression of peaceful protest in Hong Kong’
The United States government refused to say on Monday whether it would follow Britain in suspending sales of munitions to the Hong Kong police force after a weekend of violent clashes between police and protesters and a citywide strike.
US lawmakers wrote two government agencies last week, calling for a temporary ban on future sales of crowd and riot control equipment and a public announcement that the US “will not contribute to the internal repression of peaceful protest in Hong Kong”.
In a bipartisan appeal, House representatives Christopher Smith and James McGovern said “further scrutiny of the types of programmes and contacts the US engages in with the Hong Kong police force will be needed moving forward”.
The lawmakers had yet to receive a response to their letter, a spokesman for Smith said on Monday.
When asked on Monday whether the State Department was considering suspending munition sales to Hong Kong authorities, an agency spokeswoman said she could not comment on specific direct commercial sales licensing activities, citing federal law.