Joe Biden threatens to punish China over Hong Kong national security law if elected
- Democratic presidential candidate slams ‘death blow’ to city’s freedom and accuses Trump of ‘fealty to Xi Jinping’
- Biden promises swift sanctions if Beijing tries to ‘silence US citizens’ amid fears that law could be used against Americans
Democrat Joe Biden on Wednesday threatened new economic sanctions on China if he is elected US president, calling its new security law imposed on Hong Kong a “death blow” to the city’s freedom.
Biden, who has a lead in national opinion polls ahead of his November 3 election fight against President Donald Trump, said Beijing was “acting with impunity” when it unveiled new laws for Hong Kong that would punish crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.
“Beijing’s new national security law – enacted in secret and sweeping in scope – is already dealing a death blow to the freedoms and autonomy that set Hong Kong apart from the rest of China,” Biden said in a statement provided to Reuters.
The likely Democratic presidential nominee said he would “prohibit US companies from abetting repression and supporting the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state” and “impose swift economic sanctions” if Beijing “tries to silence US citizens, companies, and institutions for exercising their First Amendment rights”.
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He also vowed to “take stronger steps to prevent imports from forced labour” in Xinjiang, the Chinese region where the United Nations estimates more than a million Muslims have been detained in camps.