China yesterday slammed the US for imposing “barbarous” sanctions in response to Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong, capping a dramatic week of deteriorating relations between the world’s two biggest economies.
In the toughest US action on Hong Kong since China imposed national security legislation on the territory, Washington on Friday sanctioned a group of Chinese and Hong Kong officials — including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥).
The move came after US President Donald Trump’s administration forced Chinese Internet giants TikTok and WeChat to end all operations in the US.
Photo: Reuters
China yesterday criticized the sanctions as “barbarous and rude.”
“The ill intentions of US politicians to support people who are anti-China and messing up Hong Kong have been clearly revealed,” Beijing’s Hong Kong Liaison Office said in a statement.
The US Department of the Treasury announced that it was freezing the US assets of Lam and 10 other senior officials, including Hong Kong Liaison Office Director Luo Huining (駱惠寧).
Photo: EPA-EFE
It accused the sanctioned individuals of being “directly responsible for implementing Beijing’s policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes.”
The move criminalizes any US financial transactions with the sanctioned officials.
In a short statement, Luo said that he welcomed the blacklisting.
“I have done what I should do for the country and for Hong Kong,” he said. “I don’t have a dime’s worth in foreign assets.”
The Hong Kong government described the sanctions as “shameless and despicable.”
“We will fully support the central government to adopt countermeasures,” it said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the security legislation contravened promises made by China ahead of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover from Britain that the territory could keep key freedoms and autonomy for 50 years.
“Today’s actions send a clear message that the Hong Kong authorities’ actions are unacceptable,” Pompeo said in a statement.
As well as Luo and Lam, the sanctions target Hong Kong Police Commissioner Chris Tang (鄧炳強) and his predecessor Stephen Lo (盧偉聰), Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee (李家超) and Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng (鄭若驊). Xia Baolong (夏寶龍), director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, was also named.
Additional reporting by Reuters
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique