US sanctions six Chinese and Hong Kong officials for rights abuses

1/4/2025 6:25

The United States on Monday sanctioned six senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials for "transnational repression" and actions it said eroded the autonomy of Hong Kong, one of the first moves by the new Trump administration to punish China over its crackdown on democracy advocates in Hong Kong.



"Beijing and Hong Kong officials have used Hong Kong national security laws extraterritorially to intimidate, silence, and harass 19 pro-democracy activists who were forced to flee overseas, including a U.S. citizen and four other U.S. residents," the State Department said in a statement.



In response, the U.S. is sanctioning six individuals who have "engaged in actions or policies that threaten to further erode the autonomy of Hong Kong in contravention of China's commitments, and in connection with acts of transnational repression," it said.



Western countries have criticized Beijing for imposing the national security law on Hong Kong and using it to jail pro-democracy activists, as well as shutter liberal media outlets and civil society groups.