US Slaps Sanctions on Six Officials Over Hong Kong Mass Arrests
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Jan 17, 2021
Local media reports said those arrested are suspected of helping the 12 Hong Kong activists who were detained at sea by mainland Chinese authorities while attempting to sail to Taiwan last August.
Those on board were facing charges in Hong Kong for crimes linked to huge and often violent democracy protests that convulsed the finance hub in 2019.
"The first double standard that they have adopted is, they uphold their own national security, but at the same time belittle the need for national security in the People's Republic of China, especially in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", she said, referring to the national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing previous year.
"Their desperate effort exemplifies the rapidly deteriorating human rights condition and growing humanitarian crisis Hong Kong is in right now", Chu said, adding that the options for safe passage are limited.
Several leaders of that movement were sentenced to jail in December. Around 53 people were arrested by the Hong Kong police on January 5 this year. They were quoted as saying that investigations so far indicated those arrested were not in breach of any offences under the national security law.
The statement said that such sanctions against Chinese officials are wanton destruction of Hong Kong's rule of law and a high degree of autonomy, a blatant provocation to the Chinese government and people, and a gross violation of worldwide law and basic norms of global relations.
Unlike mainland China, Hong Kong has open internet access, but critics of Beijing fear powers given to the police under the new law could herald the end of that freedom. 13936 - "The President's Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization". Pompeo said all were associated with "developing, adopting, or implementing the National Security Law".
HKChronicles, which is still available overseas and in Hong Kong through virtual private networks, is a controversial site. Wong, a member of the city's Democratic Party, is known for providing legal assistance to hundreds of protesters arrested during the anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019. Also named were pro-Beijing legislator Tam Yiu-chung and You Quan of China's United Front Work Department.
Contrary to the allegations in the report that the national security law in the HKSAR undermines "one country, two systems", China has the right to legislate for national security in Hong Kong under "one country, two systems", the spokesperson said, stressing that every country has laws and duty to safeguard its national security and sovereignty.
