HONG KONG - Political heavyweights and civic leaders in Hong Kong on Saturday condemned the US over its latest sanctions on the city, saying the “barbarous” and “hegemonic” move was made as an attempt to contain China’s rise.
The Trump administration on Friday announced a sanctions list of 11 individuals, including Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Luo Huining and the city’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
Andy Tsang Wai-hung, former HKSAR police commissioner, told China Daily on Saturday that the US sanctions on the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials over the city’s new National Security Law is a show of naked hegemony.
Hong Kong had failed to enact a national security law as stipulated in the Basic Law in the past 23 years, leaving a loophole that was exploited by some foreign powers to intervene in the city’s affairs and conduct activities that threatened our national security, said Tsang, who’s also deputy director of the National Narcotics Control Commission.
It is not difficult to understand the frustration of those foreign powers that saw opportunities to use national security loopholes in Hong Kong slip away after the National Security Law came into effect, Tsang said.
READ MORE: Liaison office director says US sanctions 'futile'
“That is the reason why the US is taking action to levy sanctions on our officials,” he added.
Maggie Chan Man-ki, Hong Kong deputy of the National People’s Congress – China’s top legislative body, said on Saturday the US announcement only shows hegemony, as the so-called sanctions are not legally bound at all in both the mainland and Hong Kong.
Maggie Chan Man-ki, Hong Kong deputy of the National People’s Congress, said the US announcement only shows hegemony, as the so-called sanctions are not legally bound at all in both the mainland and Hong Kong
The barrister also pointed out the move seriously violated the listed officials’ privacy as some of their personal information was made public by the US, including their passport and identification numbers and private addresses.
Lam Ting-keung, a Hong Kong member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, described the US sanctions as “extremely ridiculous” and as showing “scorn for international law”.
He condemned the United States as always interfering into domestic affairs of other countries under the guise of protecting freedom. He added the purpose of all the actions taken by Trump’s administration is to escalate the China-US tensions, for the sake of their electoral ambitions in the upcoming presidential race.
He said all of the US attempts at holding back China’s development by meddling in the SAR’s affairs would be in vain.
“The central government has unwavering determination to defend the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. I am confident our motherland will retaliate against the wrongful deeds of the US, and the US will sure to suffer the consequence of their own doing.”
Lawmaker Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan, from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, also said the so-called sanctions are another attempt of the US to brutally interfere into the city’s internal affairs.
ALSO READ: HKSAR govt says so-called US sanctions 'shameless, despicable'
The US sanctions show that the officials on the list all do the correct things for safeguarding the nation and the city, said Quat. “The US so-called sanctions are utterly meaningless and cannot frighten people who prioritized Hong Kong and the mainland’s interests,” she said.
Stanley Ng Chau-pei, the president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions – the city’s largest labor union, also slammed the “shameless hegemony” of the Trump’s administration.
In his social media post, Ng said China always adheres the principle of peaceful coexistence with foreign countries in maintaining international relations, but in the face of barbarous hegemony, our motherland will “bravely fight back against it”.
Former chief executive Leung Chun-ying scoffed at the inaccuracy of the so-called sanctions list. In a social media post, Leung pointed out that the US government has mistaken the address of the Chief Secretary for Administration’s official residence as that of Chief Executive Lam.
Leung said it is baffling to him that a current superpower such as the United States would commit such a “rookie mistake”. “Could this be the information provided by the Civic Party?,” he asked.
On Tuesday, it is reported that the US Consul General in Hong Kong and Macao met the opposition Civic Party chairman Alan Leong Kah-kit and Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu at Leong's law offices.
In a post on the social media, Chief Executive Lam also responded to the own-goal by the US using the outdated information of her on the sanctions list.
“In disclosing my personal details, the US government has made the mistake by listing my address at Victoria House, which is the residence of the Chief Secretary. I believe that the official responsible has forgotten to update the information which I submitted to the US immigration authorities in 2016 when I applied for a visa to the US as Chief Secretary,” she said in the post.
“If my assumption is correct, personal information in visa applications have been passed to the Treasury for purposes other than immigration. That could constitute a violation of human rights,” Lam said.
Lam added considering that she did not aspire to go the US, she would cancel her US visa, which will expire in 2026.
