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Beijing sanctions 4 Americans over Hong Kong ‘interference’, warns US not to ‘go further down wrong path’ Beijing slaps sanctions on 4 individuals with links to US democracy promotion efforts in Hong Kong
(about 2 hours later)
China will slap sanctions on four individuals working for US organizations who say they promote democracy abroad, the Foreign Ministry said, in response to what it called “blatant interference” in Hong Kong and Chinese affairs. Chinese officials have said they are imposing sanctions on four individuals who Beijing claims are responsible for interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs, and who are linked to US democracy promotion initiatives.
From Monday, the four – one of whom works for the National Endowment for Democracy, while the other three are with the National Democratic Institute – will be banned from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and the autonomous region of Macao, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.   Hua Chunying, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told media on Monday that four individuals had been identified as interfering with Chinese domestic affairs in Hong Kong. With immediate effect, the individuals would be banned from entering China. 
“The US behavior blatantly interferes in Hong Kong affairs and grossly interferes in China's domestic affairs,” she told a regular news briefing. “The US behavior blatantly interferes in Hong Kong affairs and grossly interferes in China’s domestic affairs,” the spokeswoman said. 
“It seriously violates basic norms governing international relations, and China firmly rejects and condemns this.”  China’s Foreign Ministry identified the four individuals as senior officials at democracy promotion groups the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and National Democratic Institute (NDI). 
She also warned the US to “stop meddling and not go further down the wrong path,” stressing that former British colony Hong Kong, which was returned in 1997, belongs to China.  The four sanctioned are John Knaus, senior director of the NED; Manpreet Anand, a regional director of the NDI; Kelvin Sit, NDI program director in Hong Kong; and Crystal Rosario, an NDI specialist. 
Sino-American relations have deteriorated following a number of disputes between the two powers over issues including coronavirus, Hong Kong and the Trump administration's bid to purge the US of video-sharing app TikTok.   Hua said the groups’ efforts oppose and undermine Chinese interests in Hong Kong. 
This month, the US imposed sanctions on four Chinese individuals over Beijing's enforcement of the National Security Law, which clamps down on those dissenting against the government, including protesters in Hong Kong.   “It violates basic norms governing international relations, and China firmly rejects and condemns this,” she noted. 
In response, Beijing expelled four Hong Kong opposition MPs from the legislature, which triggered the resignation en masse of their 15 colleagues.  The move comes after the US sanctioned four Chinese individuals earlier in November for their alleged role in crushing dissent in the former British colony during recent and ongoing pro-democracy rallies. 
Earlier on Monday it emerged that the US was set to blacklist leading Chinese chipmaker SMIC and national oil and gas firm CNOOC, in an attempt to block their access to American investment, according to reports.   US-China relations have deteriorated greatly throughout 2020, with Beijing opposing US interventionism in South East Asia.
“We hope the US will provide an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese businesses working in the US,” Chunying said in response to the reports. Tensions were further heightened last week when a US admiral made an unannounced visit to Taiwan.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian claimed Beijing would bring a “necessary” response to yet another attempt by Washington to undermine China’s domestic interests. 
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