China sanctions US congressional members, officials and NGO heads

When asked what China's response will be and whether there will be countermeasures to sanctions the US imposed recently on several officials from China's central government agencies in Hong Kong and from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday that China decided to sanction the US congressional members, officials and heads of NGO who have acted egregiously on the Hong Kong-related issues.

The US's illegal unilateral sanctions on six officials of the Chinese central government's agency in the Hong Kong SAR and the government of the Hong Kong SAR is a severe interference in China's domestic affairs, including Hong Kong affairs, and a violation of principles of international law and basic norms governing international relations, Guo told a press conference on Monday. 

China strongly condemns this despicable move, Guo said.

In accordance with the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law of the People's Republic of China, China decided to sanction the US congressional members, officials and heads of NGO who have acted egregiously on the Hong Kong-related issues, the spokesperson said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.

Our message to the US is that Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong and Hong Kong affairs brook no US interference. The US's erroneous practice  on the Hong Kong-related issues will for sure meet China's resolute response and reciprocal countermeasures, Guo said.

The US State Department published the latest "Hong Kong Policy Act" report on March 31 local time and sanctioned six individuals using the "erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy" as an excuse.

China earlier voiced strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to those "sanctions," calling its newly released so-called Hong Kong Policy Act report "filled with lies and fallacies" that constituted a serious interference in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs.

China's countermeasures against the US are expected and have occurred in similar situations in the past, Lau Siu-kai, a consultant from the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies who is also a senior policy advisor, told the Global Times on Monday. 

"With the Law of the People's Republic of China on Countering Foreign Sanctions in place, China's actions not only have a legal basis but are also mandated by law," Lau noted. 

"They send a clear message to the international community that China will not passively tolerate US bullying but will respond forcefully, upholding justice and demonstrating courage," Lau added. 

The US has abused the means of sanctions as a political weapon and it sounds unwise and irrational. We have relevant laws to respond to the act of sanctions, Chu Kar-kin, a veteran commentator based in the HKSAR and member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.