This archive report was first published on 24 July 2021.
On July 23, 2021, China announced it would take reciprocal countermeasures against the U.S. after the U.S. Department of State issued the 'Hong Kong Business Advisory' on July 16, 2021.
The advisory, which was also supported by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, aimed to groundlessly smear Hong Kong's business environment and illegally imposed sanctions on several officials of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR.
China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this move, which it says gravely violates international law and basic norms governing international relations, and severely interferes in China's internal affairs.
According to the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, China has decided to impose sanctions on seven U.S. individuals and an entity, including former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Louis Ross, Chairman of U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) Carolyn Bartholomew, former Staff Director of Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Jonathan Stivers, DoYun Kim at National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, senior program manager of the International Republican Institute (IRI) Adam Joseph King, China Director at Human Rights Watch Sophie Richardson, and Hong Kong Democratic Council.
‘Hong Kong is China’s Special Administrative Region and its affairs are an integral part of China’s internal affairs. Any attempt by external forces to interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs would be as futile as an ant trying to shake a big tree,’ a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
