(Washington/Hong Kong Comprehensive News) The United States will implement new visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials who are "responsible for rights and freedoms of Hong Kong". The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has expressed "scoffing noses without fear of any intimidation."
According to Reuters, the US State Department submitted an annual Hong Kong policy law report to Congress on Friday (March 29).State Secretary of State Brillings stated in the attached statement that in the past year, China has continued to take a targeting action against Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, democratic systems, and rights and freedoms, including the recent effects of Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law.
Hong Kong Maintenance of National Security Regulations (that is, the legislative regulations, referred to as the Guoan regulations) on March 19th in The Legislative Council It took effect on March 23, causing criticism from Europe, America, Britain and other countries.
Brinken said that in response, the U.S. State Department will take measures to implement new visa restrictions on many Hong Kong officials responsible for Hong Kong's rights and freedom.
Declaration has not disclosed which officials will become the goal of visa restrictions.In November last year, members of the United States Congress submitted a draft of the Hong Kong Sanctions Law and asked for sanctions to sanctify 49 Hong Kong officials who "infringed human rights", including Zhang Junneng, the chief judge of the Final Appeal Court, Lin Dingguo, Director of the Department of Justice, and Xiao Zeyi, director of the Police Department.
The US State Department's report also mentioned that after the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020, the United States has imposed sanctions on 39 Chinese and Hong Kong people in accordance with the US Hong Kong Autonomous Law.
Hong Kong Government: No fear of intimidation
Aiming at the US statement and related reports, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Government expressed strong condemnation and opposition on Saturday (March 30), saying that the United States mentioned the previous sanctions in the report and threatened to apply visa restrictions in the statement.State's scary of Hong Kong personnel.The spokesman said: "Hong Kong's sanctions and visa restrictions on the United States scoff, without fear of any intimidation, and unswervingly fulfill their responsibilities to maintain national security."
A spokesman for the Special Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong responded on the same day that the United States threatened to sanction Hong Kong and other words and deeds as "roughly intervening in Hong Kong affairs and Chinese internal affairs", "US -related Hong Kong" lies reports'"" ".
The spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the United States pointed out that the United States' own national security system is unpredictable, but it refers to the "political manipulation and hypocrisy dual standard" on the formulation of the national security regulations in Hong Kong.
Worried about employees safe and free Asia to close the Hong Kong office
The main criticism of the Western government and the media for the Hong Kong New Law is concentrated in a lack of clear descriptions of important concepts such as state secrets and interaction with foreign entities, which may lead to a tool to crack down on unlisted people.
The Radio Asian Radio (RFA) funded by the US International Media Agency announced on Friday that the official implementation of the new law has sparked concerns about the safety of the reporter and employees, so RFA decided to officially close the office in Hong Kong.
RFA Director Fang Bei said that he will no longer hire full -time employees in Hong Kong, and the existing Hong Kong office employees will be transferred to the United States, Taiwan and other places.But at the same time, RFA will be retained in the official media registration of Hong Kong, and the program and content will continue without any interference.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong Government stated that if a reporter just worked in Hong Kong, it would not be worried and not in other countries, which is a serious prejudice.
