BEIJING’S top office in Hong Kong has slammed the United States for imposing “ridiculous” sanctions on senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials, dismissing the measures as “clowning actions” that would not frighten or intimidate Chinese people.
The criticism on Saturday came hours after Washington announced sanctions on Luo Huining, the head of China’s Liaison Office, as well as Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and other current and former officials that the US accuses of curtailing political freedoms in Hong Kong.
The move ratchets up already strained tensions between the US and China, more than a month after Beijing imposed sweeping national security legislation on semi-autonomous Hong Kong.
“The unscrupulous intentions of the US politicians to support the anti-China chaos in Hong Kong have been revealed, and their clowning actions are really ridiculous,” the Liaison Office said in a statement.
“Intimidation and threats cannot frighten the Chinese people.”
Luo, the most senior mainland political official in the Chinese-controlled territory, said US sanctions on him indicated he was doing what he “should be doing for my country and Hong Kong”.
