US government to impose sanctions on companies and banks that back efforts to restrict Hong Kong's autonomy
“US imposes new sanctions on Chinese leaders over Hong Kong laws”, 27 June 2020
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said… the United States was imposing visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party officials believed to be responsible for restricting freedoms in Hong Kong.
The move comes in advance of a meeting of China's parliament… 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…
… President Donald 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 centre…
The Chinese embassy in Washington insisted in a statement that "no one has any legal grounds or right to make irresponsible comments on Hong Kong affairs…
… the Republican-majority US 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 US dollar transactions.