Madeline Sponsler, FISM News

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday the United States was imposing visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party officials believed responsible for restricting freedoms in Hong Kong.

The move comes ahead of a meeting of China’s parliament next week that is expected to enact new national security legislation for Hong Kong that has alarmed foreign governments and democracy activists in the special administrative region.

The U.S. visa restrictions apply to “current and former CCP officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy,” Pompeo said without naming them.

Last month, Trump responded to China’s new legislation by announcing a process to eliminate special economic treatment that has allowed Hong Kong to remain a global financial center.

Pompeo’s announcement represents the first concrete U.S. step in response to China’s moves.

U.S. rhetoric against Beijing has intensified during Trump’s re-election campaign. Opinion polls have shown voters increasingly embittered toward China, especially over the coronavirus, which began in that country.

He said China had stepped up efforts to undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy through the legislation and by pressuring local authorities to arrest pro-democracy activists and disqualify pro-democracy electoral candidates.

The law is expected to be enacted by the decision-making body of China’s parliament at a three-day meeting starting on Sunday.

U.S. Responds To China:

On Thursday, the Republican-majority U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation that would impose mandatory sanctions on people or companies that back efforts to restrict Hong Kong’s autonomy.

The measure includes secondary sanctions on banks that do business with anyone backing any crackdown on the territory’s autonomy, potentially cutting them off from American counterparts and limiting access to U.S. dollar transactions.

Sourced from Reuters