They are deputy directors of the Chinese Government’s Hong Kong Liaison Office, like that US– State Department stated on Friday. Support was also promised to the pro-democratic opposition in Hong Kong.
The basis is a decree of the then US-President Donald Trump from last year, which includes sanctions against people who implement the controversial Chinese security law in Hong Kong. Any property owned by those affected in the United States will be frozen. At the same time the warned US-Government firms said doing business in Hong Kong is becoming increasingly risky.
USForeign Minister Antony Blinken announced on Friday that the security law would be passed more than a year ago, to government officials China and Hong Kong have since systematically undermined democratic institutions. Thousands of people were arrested when pro-democracy protests began in Hong Kong in 2019. The Hong Kong authorities had started a political campaign against the free press. “Today we are sending a clear message that the United States is determined to stand by the Hong Kong people.”
The security law targets activities that Beijing sees as subversive, separatist, terrorist, or conspiratorial. The authorities are increasingly taking action against the democracy movement in the former British crown colony.
