China is accusing the U.S. of “bullying behavior” following President Trump’s approval of legislation sanctioning Chinese officials and entities for Beijing’s “repressive actions” against the people of Hong Kong.
The president on Tuesday signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which the House and Senate approved earlier this month by veto-proof majorities, to hold accountable those involved cracking down on freedoms in Hong Kong. China has since threatened retaliatory sanctions against Washington.
“Unreasonable meddling and shameless threats by the United States are typical gangster logic and bullying behaviour,” China’s Hong Kong Liaison office said in a statement obtained by Reuters late Wednesday. But the office maintained that the move would have minimal impact on Hong Kong and would hurt U.S. interests in the Asian financial hub.
China last month imposed the new security law expanding Beijing’s role in controlling law enforcement and political expression in Hong Kong.
Critics, including the U.S., say it does not align with the 1997 Joint Declaration between Britain and China that bound Beijing’s communist rulers to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy as a special administrative region and to leave its liberal economy and government for 50 years under the formulation “one country, two systems.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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