The US fired new sanctions in China on Monday, targeting six high-level Chinese and Hong Kong officials for what they described as an act of cross-border oppression against the crackdown on democratic activists in Hong Kong and the US soil.
The move was the first important step by the new Trump administration to put more pressure on China than Hong Kong's human rights. The State Department said in a statement that authorities use the city's national security laws to “intimidate, silence and harass 19 democratic activists who were forced to flee abroad, including US citizens and four other US residents.”
Authorized officials included Dong Jing Wei, the city's highest security officer in China since 2023. In his previous role as China's deputy national security minister, Dong led the country's efforts to track the opposition and catch foreign spies.
Hong Kong Chief Justice Paul Lamb and Police Chief Raymond Siu were six officials from national security groups and police, and one of the police authorized to “in the role of “forcement, arrest, detention or imprisonment” under national security law.
Since widespread unrest shook the city in 2019, Hong Kong authorities have jailed many opposition lawmakers, including other people, activists and others, including journalists in the city.
The State Department also released its annual report on Monday that the Hong Kong government continued to use a wide range of national security laws to undermine human rights and civil liberties in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government noted that in December it had recently provided bounty for information that led to the arrest of opposition sects living abroad.
The move was welcomed by US Hong Kong activists.
“Many of us have endured ruthless pressure and threats through cross-border oppression. It really means a lot to see the US take the lead by taking responsibility for officials who coordinated these actions,” said Francis Huy, who was granted political asylum in the United States, issued a statement on behalf of the Hong Kong Foundation's Freedom Committee Committee in Washington. Families of foreign activists, including Hui, have been questioned in Hong Kong by the National Security Police.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement that the enforcement of these laws was “fair and necessary” to restore stability and prosperity to China's territory after being imposed in 2020 over several months. It also condemned the sanctions, calling them “severe intervention in China's internal affairs and Hong Kong issues.”
The Hong Kong government described the sanctions as “despicable behaviour” and threatening acts that “explicitly exposed the wildness of the United States.”
State Department sanctions impose restrictions on property ownership and financial transactions for individuals in the United States. The US has already approved dozens of other Chinese and Hong Kong officials, and has issued travel bans and directives to freeze assets imposed in 2020 and 2021.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a long outspoken critic of China's human rights record, said Monday's actions demonstrated the Trump administration's commitment to limiting the freedoms of Hong Kong people and explaining who are responsible for pursuing people based overseas.
Willie Wol-Rup Lamb, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, noted that while the sanctions are consistent with Rubio's stance on China, President Trump himself has put less emphasis on supporting human rights in the region. The Trump administration has dramatically cut funds to organizations that have long been giving voice to opposition communities in China and other countries, including free Asia in China and the US.
“Trump himself isn't particularly interested in what's going on in Tibet, New Jiang and Hong Kong,” Lamb said. “But that's another card that plays in a long-standing systemic competition with China.”
