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US-China relations
China

US lawmakers urge Antony Blinken to slap sanctions on Hong Kong, Chinese officials for activists’ arrest warrants

  • Bipartisan letter sent to America’s top diplomat identifies Hong Kong’s justice minister and police chief among others over ‘outrageous’ action
  • Leaders of two influential congressional panels focused on China seek determination from Blinken on sanctions eligibility by January 19

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg
Bochen Hanin Washington
The chairs of two bipartisan congressional panels are urging America’s top diplomat to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials involved in issuing arrest warrants and bounties last week on five opposition figures in the former British colony.
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In a letter dated December 19, the top Democrats and Republicans on the House select committee on China and on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to determine by January 19 whether seven Hong Kong-based officials were eligible for sanctions under existing law or executive order.

Officials targeted by the panels included the city’s justice minister, Paul Lam Ting-kwok; Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee; Director of Public Prosecutions Maggie Yang Mei-kei; Senior Superintendent of Police Bruce Hung Ngan; Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security Dong Jingwei; and assistant police commissioners Margaret Chiu Wing-lan and Dick Wong Chung-chun.

Lam, Siu and Yang were also named as targets in a sanctions bill introduced in November by Republican congresswoman Young Kim, chair of the Indo-Pacific subcommittee on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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“The Hong Kong authorities’ egregious attempt to intimidate and silence US nationals engaged in peaceful political activism in the United States is outrageous and cannot be met with inaction,” said the letter signed by Republican congressmen Mike Gallagher and Chris Smith, along with Democratic congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Democratic senator Jeff Merkley.
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The lawmakers also urged Blinken to work with Congress to combat transnational repression, a term typically referring to the targeting of diaspora by governments.

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