US President Donald Trump said his administration would end a flagship educational exchange program in China and Hong Kong as part of US sa
U. S. President Donald Trump said his administration would end a flagship educational exchange program in China and Hong Kong as part of U. S. sanctions against Beijing, but stopped short for now of listing high-ranking officials for asset freezes or visa bans.
In the latest U. S. response to the national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing on June 30, Trump earlier this week signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act providing for sanctions on individuals, organizations,and financial institutions that contribute to China’s actions to remove autonomy from Hong Kong.
But while Trump said China should be held accountable for its « aggressive actions against the people of Hong Kong, » and ended the city’s special economic and trading status, he stopped short of sanctioning any of its leaders, including chief executive Carrie Lam.
Section 3, provision (i) of the Executive Order signed by the president on Tuesday shuts down the Fulbright program of educational exchanges with Hong Kong and Chinese universities.
However, Reuters reported that Trump hadn’t ruled out further sanctions on officials under the Act, which allows Washington to impose sanctions and visa restrictions on Chinese officials and financial institutions involved in the imposition of China’s new national security law in Hong Kong.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that Trump had ruled out additional sanctions on top Chinese officials for now.
Reuters quoted National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot as saying that nothing had been taken off the table, however.
« In no way has he taken anything off the table with respect to further sanctions of party officials for actions in Hong Kong or on other issues. » Ullyot told the agency. « Any suggestion otherwise by anonymous sources is flat out wrong. »
Targets for sanctions being considered
Discussions are continuing in the White House over potential targets for sanctions, and Lam could still be targeted, Reuters reported.
