US preparing new sanctions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong crackdown, sources

WASHINGTON/BEIJING: The US is preparing to impose sanctions on at least a dozen Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing’s disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong, three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter, told Reuters.

The move, which could come as soon as Monday, will target officials from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as President Donald Trump’s administration keeps up pressure on Beijing in his final weeks in office.

President-elect Joe Biden takes over on January 20.

The state department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Up to 14 people, including officials of China’s parliament, or National People’s Congress, and members of the CCP, would likely be targeted by measures such as asset freezes and financial sanctions, two sources said.

The US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said multiple individuals would be sanctioned.

A person familiar with the matter said the group would likely include officials from Hong Kong as well as the mainland. The sources did not provide names or positions of those being targeted for sanctions. Two sources cautioned an announcement could still be delayed until later in the week.

“China has always firmly opposed and strongly condemned US interference in China’s domestic affairs through the Hong Kong issue,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing in Beijing on Monday, in response to a question on the Reuters report.

Hong Kong authorities arrested eight people on Monday in connection with an unauthorised protest at Chinese University of Hong Kong last month in which more than 100 people protested a decision to hold graduation ceremonies online last month, amid a widening crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous territory.

China calls for new talks with US after Biden win China’s top diplomat on Monday called for the resumption of talks with the incoming administration of president-elect Joe Biden, as relations between the world’s two largest economies continued to nosedive.

Beijing and Washington have locked horns over issues from trade and China’s human rights record to its expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea.

But speaking during a video call with the board of the US-China Business Council on Monday, foreign minister Wang Yi said “the two sides should work together”.

“We need to strive to restart the dialogue, get back on the right track, and rebuild mutual trust in the next phase of China-US relations,” he said, according to a readout of his remarks on the foreign ministry website.