China on Thursday announced tit-for-tat sanctions on five US individuals, including a former commerce secretary, after Washington punished several Chinese officials over Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong.
“These US individuals sanctioned are not allowed to enter the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, and their assets in China will be frozen. They’re also forbidden to trade with Chinese citizens and institutions,” Lijian Zhao, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, told a news conference in Beijing.
The sanctioned individuals include former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) President Carolyn Bartholomew, the Chinese daily Global Times reported.
Read more: US imposes sanctions on China, Myanmar, North Korea and Bangladesh
The US State Department and US Treasury had last week announced fresh sanctions on five Chinese officials under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.
The sanctioned Chinese officials were deputy directors of the Liaison Office of mainland China in Hong Kong. They were already facing other sanctions.
It's crazy to think about just how long war (and nuclear war!) with China via proxies like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Matsu archipelago, etc. has been formal US strategy. Even this "new Cold War" with PRC that seems to have appeared out of nowhere has been official US policy since 2010.
— gaming disorder pawg (@roun_sa_ville) December 27, 2021
Washington accuses the Chinese officials of “undermining democracy in Hong Kong.”
Denouncing the sanctions, Zhao had earlier called the US move “illegal and invalid.”
“The Chinese side firmly opposes it and denounces it in the strongest terms,” Zhao had told a news conference.
Since October last year, 39 Chinese officials have been designated under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.
Read more: China blasts ‘crazy’ US sanctions over Hong Kong
Washington has also warned banks against any kind of transactions with the sanctioned individuals.
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk