The U.S. State Department issued a statement on the morning of December 7 announcing sanctions against 14 vice-chairmen of the Communist Party-controlled Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) for their earlier role in the NPC Standing Committee’s resolution to disqualify four pro-democracy members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. There are no Hong Kong officials on the latest sanctions list.
After the U.S. sanctioned senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials several months ago in response to Beijing’s push for a “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” in Hong Kong, the U.S. government has again sanctioned Chinese officials. Those sanctioned this time are the Vice Chairmen of the National People’s Congress (NPC), including Wang Chen, Cao Jianming, Zhang Chunxian, Shen Yueyue, Ji Bingxuan, Aleksey Imin Bahai, Wan E Xiang, Chen Zhu, Wang Dongming, Baimachalin, Ding Zhongli, Hao Mingjin, Cai Dafeng, and Wu Weihua.
The sanctioned individuals and their families will not be allowed to come to the U.S., their assets that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction or owned or controlled by U.S. persons will be blocked, and U.S. persons will be prohibited from having any dealings with them, according to a statement issued by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The U.S. government’s action on Monday underscores that the United States will continue to work with allies and partners to hold Beijing accountable for undermining its commitment to Hong Kong’s autonomy, according to the State Department’s statement. The United States again urged Beijing to abide by its international commitments and to listen to the many countries that have condemned Beijing’s actions.
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Monday in response to reports that the U.S. is preparing to sanction Chinese officials involved in the disqualification of members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, “China has always resolutely opposed and strongly condemned the U.S. using the Hong Kong issue to interfere in China’s internal affairs and impose so-called sanctions on Chinese personnel, and we have repeatedly expressed our solemn position to the U.S. side in this regard and made a proper and necessary response.”
In the past few years, the NPC Standing Committee has been working with the Chinese government on a number of issues, such as the development of a new system of “one country, two systems”, and the development of a new system of “one country, two systems”.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the Trump administration could announce as soon as Monday a new round of sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials, possibly as many as 14, including officials from the NPC Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party, and the Hong Kong government, by means of asset freezes and bans on some financial transactions.
Earlier reports indicated that U.S. President Donald Trump, unhappy with the Hong Kong government’s disqualification of four pro-democracy lawmakers, would continue to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
President Trump told aides in July that he did not want to further raise tensions with China and temporarily ruled out the possibility of sanctioning top Chinese officials, Bloomberg said Monday in a Reuters report.
But sources familiar with the situation said on condition of anonymity that the White House had previously drawn up a list of senior officials, including Han, who is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Han is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.
The report said that a more senior target than Han would be the No. 3 person in the Communist Party of China (CPC), Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC). The NPC, under Li’s leadership, has been directly responsible for most of the widely controversial coercive measures that the CCP has imposed on Hong Kong in the past six months, including the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law.
On November 11, the NPC Standing Committee authorized the Hong Kong government to disqualify four Hong Kong pan-democratic legislators for “endangering national security,” among other reasons. Subsequently, all pan-democratic members of the Legislative Council resigned en masse in protest, turning the pro-China Legislative Council into a rubber-stamp for the Hong Kong government and the Chinese Communist Party.
The foreign ministers of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement criticizing Beijing for using new rules to disqualify members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council after Hong Kong implemented the National Security Law and postponed the Legislative Council elections, further undermining Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, rights, and freedoms.
White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien also pledged at the time that the United States would take further action in response to the development.
Hong Kong democrats say the disqualification of members of the NPC is a dark day for Hong Kong, proving that “one country, two systems” no longer exists.
Hong Kong media quoted Hong Kong’s authoritative legal practitioner, Professor Chen Wenmin of the University of Hong Kong Law School, as saying that the NPC Standing Committee had acted in a lawless manner, because according to Article 79 of the Basic Law, a two-thirds majority of the Legislative Council is required for the disqualification of a legislator.
After Beijing and Hong Kong authorities pushed for national security laws in late June, the Trump administration in August imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and 11 other Chinese and Hong Kong officials for their active participation in Beijing’s push to undermine freedom and democracy in Hong Kong.
Last month, the U.S. designated four more Beijing and Hong Kong officials for sanctions, accusing them of being linked to the implementation of national security laws and “threats to Hong Kong’s peace, security, and autonomy.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor acknowledged in an earlier media interview that the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. have affected her and her family, saying that she now receives her salary in cash but that it is an “honor” for her to serve national security.
Beijing and Hong Kong officials deny the crackdown, arguing that the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” is a necessary law to restore stability to Hong Kong, an international financial center. Hong Kong has been undergoing massive anti-government protests against the amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and for democracy for more than half a year since June last year.
Beijing forcibly announced the enactment of a “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” in May this year, which was passed by the Communist Party-controlled Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on June 30, announced the same night, and officially came into effect in Hong Kong, imposing severe punishments for “subversion of state power,” “secession,” “terrorist activities,” and “collusion with foreign forces” as widely defined by the Chinese government, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
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