In the dispute over Hong Kong’s autonomy, the US imposes visa restrictions on leading members of the Chinese Communist Party. The measure is directed against former and current party representatives involved in “undermining” Hong Kong’s autonomy, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. The minister did not disclose exactly who took the punitive measures.
“President Trump has promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party officials who were responsible for undermining Hong Kong’s freedoms,” said Pompeo. “Today we are taking measures to do just that.”
Only on Thursday in a video conference of the “German Marshall Fund” Pompeo had pushed for a tougher approach towards China, in which the EU should also participate. It is “a series of collective responses to protect the freedoms that the Chinese Communist Party tries to undermine every day,” said Pompeo.
Critics have long accused the Beijing government of undermining the autonomy of the Chinese Special Administrative Region. A planned Chinese security law for Hong Kong is currently causing severe criticism.
According to western states, the law represents a massive encroachment on Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous status and endangers democratic civil rights. Among other things, according to the law, Chinese security forces will be allowed to work in the former British crown colony.
Relations between the United States and China had deteriorated significantly recently. After the two countries signed an extensive trade agreement earlier this year, Washington accuses Beijing of failing to address the coronavirus, which has never claimed as many deaths as in the United States. The United States recently asked China to participate in arms control negotiations with Russia, which Beijing rejected.
A group of independent experts from the United Nations has been alarmed by the suppression of freedom rights in China. Decisive international action as a countermeasure against current developments is necessary, it said on Friday in a message in Geneva. The world community must pay attention to Beijing’s new security law for Hong Kong. In addition, the handling of Uyghurs and Tibetans and the persecution of civil rights activists should be closely monitored, according to the 50 experts.
The Geneva Human Rights Council, which is due to start a new session next week, could take a variety of measures to address the situation, including the use of an official investigation. The communication denounces how to deal with the pro-democratic protests in Hong Kong. The UN experts recently issued a similar call to the Human Rights Council, which called for action against the racism allegations in the United States. Allies of the United States have prevented a formal UN commission of inquiry. Austria is also currently a member of the Human Rights Council, which is chaired by the Austrian UN ambassador to Geneva, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger.
Those: Apa / Ag.
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