Beijing to hit back on sanctions

CHINA has threatened “strong countermeasures” if the US presses ahead with tough new sanctions targeting banks over infringements on Hong Kong’s autonomy, after Beijing imposed a strict new security law on the key financial hub.

Beijing has faced a groundswell of criticism from the West over its decision to impose a law outlawing acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces in Hong Kong.

That includes from Britain, which plans to extend citizenship rights to Hong Kongers, and the US, where Congress on Friday dialled up the pressure by fast-tracking the new banking sanctions.

However, US President Donald Trump still needs to sign the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, and has not said if he will.

The move targets Chinese officials and the Hong Kong police, making US sanctions against them mandatory if they are identified in two consecutive reports as impeding Hong Kong’s freedoms.

The act would also punish banks by blocking loans from the US if they conducted “significant transactions” with people identified as infringing on the city’s autonomy.

Beijing said it “deplores and firmly opposes” the US act. “We urge the US to grasp the reality of the situation, stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and implementing the negative bill, otherwise we will take strong countermeasures,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned.

US Vice President Mike Pence said China’s security law was “unacceptable to freedom-loving people”.

Former colonial power Britain has said the law breaches Beijing’s “One Country, Two Systems” promise to grant Hong Kongers key liberties until 2047, a promise made as the city was handed back to Beijing in 1997.