A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has expressed approval for the State Department’s decision to sanction 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials over Beijing’s …
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has expressed approval for the State Department’s decision to sanction 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials over Beijing’s continued crackdown on Hong Kong’s freedom. “The timing of the announcement sends a clear signal that the U.S. government remains serious about holding the Chinese government accountable,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.), who head the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), on March 17. The two lawmakers added, “We will continue to speak in defense of the Hong Kong people against the oppression of an authoritarian system.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the sanctions reflect Washington’s “deep concern” about Hong Kong’s autonomy, after China’s National People’s Congress approved a draft plan earlier this month to change Hong Kong’s electoral system. The plan has since drawn international criticism that it will further cement Beijing’s control over the territory by reducing Hong Kong’s democratic representation. Among the 24 officials sanctioned are Wang Chen, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 25-person Politburo, the Chinese regime’s top ruling group; and Tam Yiu-chung, the only delegate from Hong Kong sitting on the standing committee of the National People’s Congress.
