Foreign Minister Antony Blinken on Tuesday announced sanctions against two dozen Chinese and Hong Kong officials for undermining Beijing’s semi-autonomy, just days before a major US-China summit.
The sanctions are an update of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, passed under the Trump administration last June, which serves to punish individuals, banks and other entities that make China’s strict new national security law possible for Hong Kong.
The State Department’s announcement also comes one week after China’s ceremonial legislature approved a plan to reduce the number of lawmakers in Hong Kong elected by the region’s voters. In a statement, Blinken said the new wave of US sanctions “underscores our deep concern” about the actions in the National People’s Congress.