China has imposed sanctions on US citizens and entities in relation to Hong Kong.

Following a crackdown by China on the main financial hub, the US warned its business community this week of the rising hazards of doing business in Hong Kong.

Beijing: In response to US advice about worsening freedoms in Hong Kong, Beijing slapped penalties on seven American people and organizations on Friday, just days before a visit from a top Biden administration official.
On a variety of fronts, including human rights, trade, cybersecurity, and the origins of the Covid-19 epidemic, tensions between Beijing and Washington have risen.

Following a crackdown by China on the main financial hub, the US warned its business community this week of the rising hazards of doing business in Hong Kong.

Entrepreneurs face significant dangers, according to US government agencies led by the State Department, from the installation of a harsh new security law a year ago, which it warned may “adversely affect firms and persons operating in Hong Kong.”

China’s foreign ministry claimed the action was meant to “groundlessly tarnish Hong Kong’s economic climate” and “gravely breach international law and basic principles regulating international relations,” according to a statement released Friday.

China retaliated by announcing sanctions on seven US people and businesses, including Wilbur Ross, the former Commerce Secretary under President Donald Trump.

Ross expanded the list of businesses that cannot trade with US firms without a previous license while in office, including Chinese telecom behemoths Huawei and ZTE.

Beijing’s action comes ahead of US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s weekend travel to China, which is designed to address worsening ties between the two nations and is the highest-level visit by a US official under President Joe Biden.

Carolyn Bartholomew, head of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Adam King of the International Republican Institute, and Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, are among those who have been sanctioned.

Richardson, a well-known human rights researcher and pundit in China, sarcastically thanked the Beijing authorities, saying it would provide her with “additional incentive.”

The sanctions were dubbed a “badge of honor” by the Hong Kong Democratic Council, located in Washington.

Samuel Chu, the group’s director and a US citizen for whom Hong Kong police have issued an arrest order, said, “It is the finest affirmation of what and who we are fighting for.”

“Beijing can penalize us, but it just increases our determination and exposes their despicable suppression to the rest of the world,” he said in a statement.

China’s statement did not specify how the penalties would be implemented.

The US government warned of a shifting atmosphere under national security legislation, as well as the arrest of one US citizen, famous human rights lawyer John Clancey.

It also warned of increased dangers to data privacy, a lack of transparency, and limited access to information, as well as a higher chance of US penalties for firms.