On Monday, the United States imposed sanctions on Hong Kong police chief and five other senior officials, against the background of their role in suppressing public freedoms, according to Agence France -Presse.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that these sanctions “show the commitment of President Donald Trump’s administration to demand accountability for those who deprive Hong Kong residents of their protected rights and freedoms, or who commit a repression of national border repression on American soil or against American people.”
The sanctions are targeting police Commissioner Raymond Seo Shak-E-and the city’s Minister of Justice Paul Lam, in addition to others. Hong Kong John Lee, who is the city’s highest official, is under US sanctions.
These officials are targeted under American law that defends democracy in Hong Kong.
The US State Department indicated a role that some of them played in the context of efforts to “intimidate, silence and harass 19 activists in support of democracy” who fled abroad, including an American citizen and 4 residents in the United States.
Beijing has regained Hong Kong control strongly, and imposed a strict law for national security in 2020, a year of mass protests in support of democracy, sometimes marked by violence.
The sanctions lead to the freezing of any assets that these individuals may own in the United States, and to prohibit any financial transactions with them.
