Washington Imposes Sanctions On Six Hong Kong Authorities

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WASHINGTON, March 31 (KUNA) -- The United States of America on Monday imposed sanctions on six Beijing and Hong Kong authorities responsible for abuses in Hong Kong and the United States.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that sanctions imposed include five individuals for their role as leaders or officials of the Hong Kong government that have engaged in actions or policies that have degraded the autonomy of Hong Kong, including a connection with transnational repression targeting individuals residing in the US, and one individual for their role in implementing the National Security Law.
The decision made coincides with the release of a report on the situation in Hong Kong from January to December 2024, which concluded that during the period under review, Beijing took new actions that directly threaten the interest of the US and are not in parallel with Basic Law and China's commitment under the 1984 Sino- British Joint Declaration to allow Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy.
The report also noted, although the Sino- British deceleration required Beijing to allow Hong Kong to retain some differences from mainland China, including trade policy, only to the extent that these policies made unique contributions to Beijing's interests, the overall trend was towards centralization under Beijing.
Rubio also noted that China and Hong Kong authorities continued to use national security as a broad and vague basis to undermine the rule of law and protected rights and freedoms.
Hong Kong does not deserve to be treated under US law in the same way it was before July 1, 1997 said Rubio.
On March 23, 2024, the Hong Kong government issued the Decree on safeguarding National Security, adopting Beijing's extremely broad definition of national security.
It was also stressed that under supervision of the central government, Hong Kong authorities have used the National Security Decree and the National Security Law of 2020 imposed by Beijing to further erode the rule of law in Hong Kong, undermine the human rights and fundamental freedoms of residents, and harass and intimidate individuals outside its borders. (end)
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