Hong Kong five-hundred and one-hundred dollar banknotes are arranged for a photograph in Hong Kong, China on April 23, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Top advisers to US President Donald Trump have ruled out undermining the Hong Kong dollar’s peg  to the greenback as they seek to punish China for "infringing on the territory's political freedoms", according to people familiar with the matter.

Aides at the White House and State department had weighed the possibility of limiting Hong Kong banks’ access to US dollars as a way of striking back at Beijing, Bloomberg News reported last week. But they dropped the idea after advocates could not gather enough support, with those against the move concerned that it would be difficult to implement and could end up hurting the US, according to one of the people.

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The idea of breaking the peg was discussed with Trump on Monday afternoon, according to one of the people.

Tensions between the US and China have flared over a number of issues.

Early Monday, Beijing announced sanctions against US Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz for "acting viciously" on issues related to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

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Beijing has repeatedly accused Washington of inappropriately interfering in China’s internal affairs.