US Sanctions Are Clowning Actions: Liaison Office

Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong on Saturday strongly condemned sanctions imposed by Washington that targeted eleven mainland and Hong Kong officials, saying they would not be intimidated by any "barbaric" action.

"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.

The head of Beijing's Liaison Office, Luo Huining, was among those Washington accused of curtailing political freedoms in Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam. Any assets they have in the US will be frozen and they are prohibited from carrying out any kind of business in the country, in light of Beijing's imposition of the national security law in the SAR.

In a separate statement, Luo said the so-called sanctions were “in vain” as he didn’t have any assets overseas.

“Of course, I could send Mr Trump US$100 for him to freeze,” he said.

“The so-called sanctions show I have done what I should do for the country and Hong Kong,” he said.

The spokesman for the Liaison Office said Washington had “miscalculated” and “wasted its efforts” if it thought the sanctions would make the Chinese people compromise and back down.

He said the national security law introduced in Hong Kong had plugged a legal loophole and upheld social order in the city. (RTHK with additional reporting from Reuters)