Hong Kong: US imposes sanctions on Chinese people

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Hong Kong police arrest a lawyer

Photo: TYRONE SIU / REUTERS

The US has imposed sanctions on six representatives of the Chinese leadership and the Hong Kong police.

The US State Department announced in Washington on Friday that the people would be punished for the mass arrests in Hong Kong at the beginning of January.

Police arrested more than 50 democratic activists in Hong Kong in early January.

The action is considered the biggest blow against the opposition since the introduction of the controversial security law.

The arrests were related to unofficial primaries held by opposition forces last July.

The parliamentary election was later canceled due to the corona pandemic.

The arrested are accused of endangering the state and violating the national security law that came into force on July 1.

The mass arrests met with international outrage.

The US State Department spoke on Friday of a "terrifying" blow against activists who had campaigned for fair and open elections, and demanded their immediate release.

The enactment of the security law in response to the demonstrations in Hong Kong, which had been going on for a year, had been sharply criticized internationally.

It is directed against activities that Beijing sees as subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial.

Since July 1, 1997, Hong Kong has been part of China again and is governed as its own territory according to the principle of "one country, two systems".

This agreement actually provides that the seven million Hong Kongers will enjoy "a high degree of autonomy" and many freedoms by 2047.

Since the Security Act was passed, many have only said: "One country, one system".

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ptz / dpa