Tit for tat as China blacklists US lawmakers
China hit back at the United States on Monday by blacklisting 11 US lawmakers, only days after Washington announced sanctions on as many Chinese officials and their allies, including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
‘China announced sanctions starting Monday against 11 US lawmakers and NGO chiefs who performed badly on Hong Kong-related affairs,’ the Global Times, China’s official English-language newspaper, reported this week. It said they included senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, Pat Toomey and Congressman Chris Smith.
‘Chiefs of so-called NGOs, namely Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy, Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute, Daniel Twining, president of the International Republican Institute, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, and Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, are also on the sanctions list,’ the daily said.
Last week, the US Department of the Treasury said it was designating 11 Chinese officials and their allies in Hong Kong, including Lam, for their roles in cracking down on political freedoms in Hong Kong.
‘Today, Treasury is sanctioning Carrie Lam, Chris Tang, Stephen Lo, John Lee Ka-chiu, Teresa Cheng, Erick Tsang, Xia Baolong, Zhang Xiaoming, Luo Huining, Zheng Yanxiong, and Eric Chan,’ the Treasury Department said in a 7 August statement.
It said Lam was sanctioned because she is ‘directly responsible for implementing Beijing’s policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes.’
‘As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the individuals named above, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,’ the Treasury statement advised.
