China imposed sanctions on 11 Americans in retaliation for similar restrictions imposed by Washington over an alleged effort to undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy.
China’s sanctions targeted Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey; Congressman Chris Smith; Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth; National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman; and Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House.
“In response to the U.S.’s wrong behaviors, China has decided to impose sanctions on those individuals who behaved badly on Hong Kong-related issues,” the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, said.
On August 7, The U.S. said that it was placing sanctions on 11 Chinese officials and their allies in Hong Kong.
The sanctions target Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) Commissioner Chris Tang, Former HKPF Commissioner Stephen Lo, HKSAR Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu and HKSAR Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng.
Lam was sanctioned because she is “directly responsible for implementing Beijing’s policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes,” the U.S. Treasury Department had said.