US puts sanctions on Hong Kong’s leader

THE United States slapped sanctions on Hong Kong’s leader after effectively forcing Chinese internet giants Tik-Tok and WeChat to end all US operations, in a twin diplomatic-commercial offensive set to grow ahead of US elections.

In the toughest US action on Hong Kong since Beijing imposed a security clampdown on the territory, the Treasury Department said it was freezing US assets of Chief Executive Carrie Lam and 10 other senior officials.

The move criminalises any US financial transactions with the 11 officials, who include Hong Kong’s police commissioner, its security secretary and China’s top official in the international financial hub.

“Today’s actions send a clear message that the Hong Kong authorities’ actions are unacceptable,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Mr Pompeo said China’s security law – which bans subversion and other perceived offences in Hong Kong – violated promises made by China before Britain handed back the territory in 1997.

Hong Kong commerce secretary Edward Yau described the sanctions as “savage, disproportionate and unreasonable,” warning of a potential blowback for US businesses in the financial hub.

“If the US unilaterally carries out this kind of unreasonable action, it will in the end affect US companies,” he said.

The US Treasury Department said Ms Lam was sanctioned because she “is directly responsible for implementing Beijing’s policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes”.

The security law was imposed in late June, following last year’s huge pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Since then, authorities have postponed elections, citing the coronavirus pandemic, and according to Beijing issued arrest warrants for six exiled prodemocracy activists. The US measures come three months ahead of November 3 elections in which Mr Trump, who is behind his rival Joe Biden in the polls, is campaigning hard on an increasingly strident antiBeijing message.

On Friday, William Evanina, director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said China wants Trump to lose.

“We assess that China prefers that President Trump – whom Beijing sees as unpredictable – does not win re-election,” he said.