US sanctions six Chinese and Hong Kong officials for rights abuses

WASHINGTON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - The U.S. on Monday sanctioned six senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials for "transnational repression" and further eroding the autonomy of Hong Kong, in the first major move by the Trump administration to punish China over its crackdown on the city.

"Beijing and Hong Kong officials have used Hong Kong national security laws extraterritorially to intimidate, silence, and harass 19 pro-democracy activists who were forced to flee overseas, including a U.S. citizen and four other U.S. residents," the State Department said in a statement.

In response, the U.S. is sanctioning six individuals who have "engaged in actions or policies that threaten to further erode the autonomy of Hong Kong in contravention of China's commitments, and in connection with acts of transnational repression," it said.

Western countries have criticized Beijing for imposing the national security law on Hong Kong and using it to jail pro-democracy activists, as well as shutter liberal media outlets and civil society groups.

Beijing says the law, which punishes acts like subversion and foreign collusion with up to life in prison, has brought stability after mass pro-democracy protests there in 2019.

The sanctions announced on Monday put blocks on any property, funds or transactions within the U.S. for these individuals, including Dong Jingwei, a former senior official at China's main civilian intelligence agency who is now the director of China's Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong.

Dong was previously China's top spy catcher who had oversight of counter-intelligence. He was also vice minister of state security, a high-profile role which included hunting down foreign spies in China and nationals who colluded with foreign countries.

Paul Lam, Hong Kong's top legal official as secretary for justice, who has driven prosecutions against scores of democratic activists, was also sanctioned.

Security and police officials Sonny Au, Dick Wong, Margaret Chiu, Raymond Siu were also sanctioned for their role in "coercing, arresting, detaining, or imprisoning of individuals" under the security laws.

China's Foreign Commissioner's office in Hong Kong said in a statement the sanctions were "despicable" and were a sinister attempt to undermine Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

The Hong Kong government strongly condemned the sanctions that it said "clearly exposed the US' barbarity under its hegemony".

Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers had pushed the Biden administration to sanction all six officials, as well as 43 others including senior judges Esther Toh, Susana D'Almada Remedios, and Alex Lee, and senior prosecutors Maggie Yang and Anthony Chau who have been involved in national security cases.

China's record on human rights, a contentious issue between the countries, has been a focus for Secretary of State Marco Rubio since he was a U.S. senator, and Hong Kong democracy activists have long seen him as a champion of their cause.

The sanctions "demonstrate the Trump Administration's commitment to hold to account those responsible for depriving people in Hong Kong of protected rights and freedoms," the State Department said.

Frances Hui with the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation in Washington who was granted U.S. political asylum, called the sanctions a "critical step in addressing the worsening crackdown in Hong Kong."

"We hope it marks the beginning of a sustained and broader effort to hold perpetrators accountable - including not only top officials, but also the judges and prosecutors at all levels who have played key roles in silencing dissent," Hui said.

Rubio said in a separate statement that he was also hitting some unidentified Chinese officials who implement travel restrictions in Tibet with visa sanctions over the inability for U.S. officials and journalists to travel to the region, noting that Chinese officials "enjoy broad access" in the U.S.

"This lack of reciprocity is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Rubio said.

(Editing by Leslie Adler, Stephen Coates, James Pomfret and Kim Coghill)