US plans to impose new visa restrictions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials after security verdicts
HONG KONG — The United States expressed deep concern on Friday over the convictions of 14 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong under a Beijing-imposed national security law, and said it was moving to impose new visa restrictions on officials from mainland China and Hong Kong Kong who are responsible for the implementation of the far-reaching legislation.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called for the release of the detained activists a day after Britain made a similar appeal following Thursday’s historic rulings.
“The defendants were subjected to a politically motivated prosecution and imprisoned simply for peacefully participating in political activities protected by the Basic Law of Hong Kong,” Miller said in a statement. The Basic Law is the city’s mini-constitution.
He provided no further details about the looming visa restrictions and who they would target.
The democracy advocates were among 47 activists charged in the city’s largest national security case to date. Prosecutors had accused them of trying to paralyze Hong Kong’s government and overthrow the city’s leader by gaining the legislative majority needed to indiscriminately veto budgets.
In sentencing, three judges approved by the government to oversee their case said their plan to bring about change through unofficial primaries would have undermined the government’s authority and created a constitutional crisis. But they acquitted two others, who also pleaded not guilty, because they were unsure whether the pair intended to undermine the power of the state.
The 14 activists, along with the remaining 31 others who previously pleaded guilty, would be sentenced at a later date.
The mass prosecution of the 47 activists dealt a major blow to the city’s pro-democracy movement following massive anti-government protests in 2019. Critics said it illustrated Beijing’s pledge to clamp down on Western civil liberties in Hong Kong for 50 years. preserved, when the first The British colony that returned under Chinese rule in 1997, became increasingly worn out.
Miller urged Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to uphold Hong Kong’s judicial independence and stop using vague national security laws to curb peaceful dissent.
After Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020, the US has already imposed sanctions on some officials in Hong Kong and mainland China for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, including then-Security Minister and current city leader John Lee.
But the governments of both Beijing and Hong Kong emphasized that the law helped restore stability to the city.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said the central government strongly supports Hong Kong’s law enforcement and judicial authorities in punishing all kinds of acts that undermine national security.
She expressed China’s opposition to other countries “tarnishing and undermining” Hong Kong’s rule of law.