Washington, Aug 8(UNI) The US Treasury on Saturday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, and 10 other top officials from Hong Kong and mainland China.
The sanctions aims to target to target those who the US accuses of undermining Hong Kong's autonomy, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The move comes weeks after China imposed a controversial national security law on Hong Kong, which critics say threatened its freedoms and only a few hours after the Trump administration banned US transactions with the Chinese owners of the WeChat and TikTok apps, the BBC reported.
The US Treasury directly accused Ms Lam of "implementing Beijing's policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes".
The US accused Ms Lam of pushing for an update to Hong Kong's extradition arrangements to allow for extradition to the mainland in 2019 which set off a series of massive opposition demonstrations in Hong Kong," the US Treasury added.
Others who are sanctioned are Hong Kong's police commissioner and several political secretaries.
UNI XC ACL0436