US Democrats rebuke Trump for easing sanctions on Beijing, Hong Kong officials

Several top US Democratic lawmakers chided US President Donald Trump on Tuesday for easing sanctions recently on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who, they said, were “complicit in Beijing’s dismantling of Hong Kong’s autonomy”.

“We write to express serious concern,” the four-page letter said. “It raises serious questions about the durability of US policy towards Hong Kong that we believe warrant a direct response from the administration.”

On July 14, the US allowed its designation of Hong Kong as an area worthy of “national emergency” concern to lapse, although a 2020 executive order remains in place categorising the special administrative region as “no longer sufficiently autonomous” to justify different treatment than the Mainland.

This modification removed nine of the 48 previously sanctioned officials from the list, including several top security officials and Justice Secretary Paul Lam Ting-kwok. This effectively ended restrictions on their ability to use the US banking system or access any US assets.

The change also saw 39 others – including former chief executives Carrie Lam and John Lee as well as the previously cited National People’s Congress Standing Committee leadership – moved to a different sanctions list that removed some restrictions, including a prior ban on importing goods.

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The US Treasury noted on its website that the expiration did not apply to or affect two related US laws, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, or the Hong Kong Autonomy Act of 2020.