Chinese officials “responsible for or complicit in” Beijing’s tightening of control over Hong Kong are restricted from entering the United States, the State Department announced.
“President Trump promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party officials who were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong’s freedoms,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday. “Today, we are taking action to do just that.”
The visa restrictions are a retaliation for China’s move to impose an anti-sedition law on Hong Kong and to arrest pro-democracy activists, in defiance of the international agreement to respect the former British colony’s traditional freedoms. Western officials have been perplexed about how to respond to the encroachment because the most obvious available options could harm the people of Hong Kong rather than the mainland government.
Pompeo unveiled the visa restrictions, which reportedly apply to fewer than 10 Chinese officials, one day after the Senate voted unanimously in favor of a sanctions bill that would force Trump to impose economic sanctions if Chinese President Xi Jinping refuses to reverse course.
“The mandatory sanctions established in this bill will punish those in China who seek to undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy or erode the basic freedoms promised to Hong Kongers,” said Sen. Pat Toomey, the Pennsylvania Republican who co-authored the legislation with Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
Those sanctions would blacklist Chinese banks that do business with party officials such as the ones targeted by Pompeo’s visa restrictions, a threat that Van Hollen has likened to a “spear” aimed at China’s economy.
“Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy … as well as respect for human rights are of fundamental importance,” Pompeo said Friday. “The United States will continue to review its authorities to respond to these concerns.”
