At least a few sanctions in answer to at least a few instances of China’s transnational harassment of the innocent? Yes, let’s have sanctions. The Epoch Times reports (December 21, 2022):
In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Dec. 19, four congressmen—Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the chairman and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); and Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the chair and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China—said the Hong Kong police’s bounties are the latest example of communist China’s transnational repression.
“The Hong Kong authorities’ egregious attempt to intimidate and silence U.S. nationals engaged in peaceful political activism in the United States is outrageous and cannot be met with inaction,” the lawmakers wrote.
“We urge the administration to take swift action and impose sanctions on the perpetrators of this reprehensible act of transnational repression.”
In their December 19 letter, the congressmen call the following personnel to Blinken’s attention:
• Paul Lam Ting-kwok, Hong Kong Secretary for Justice
• Raymond Siu Chak-yee, Hong Kong Commissioner of Police
• Margaret Chiu Wing-lan, Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Security
• Dick Wong Chung-chun, Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Security
• Bruce Hung Ngan, Senior Superintendent of Police
• Maggie Yang Mei-kei, Hong Kong Director of Public Prosecutions
• Dong Jingwei, Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security
The signatories want the Biden administration to at least investigate whether these “Hong Kong and CCP security officials meet the criteria for sanctions pursuant to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, and Executive Order 13936.”
But the list is incomplete. For example, where is Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, adamant apostle of Hong Kong’s latest long-arm persecution? Add him.
Moreover, although the form of the current harassment—announcing bounties on the heads of expatriate proponents of freedom and democracy—seems novel, transnational repression itself is not. For the government of China, it has become an ugly routine. And its victims around the world are legion.
If sanctions on the culpable Hong Kong officials are justified in response to the bounties, so are many more sanctions on many more Chinese officials. Including the guy at the top, Xi Jinping.
Also see:
Freedom House: “China: Transnational Repression Origin Country Case Study”
“China conducts the most sophisticated, global, and comprehensive campaign of transnational repression in the world….[T]he sheer breadth and global scale of the campaign is unparalleled. Freedom House’s conservative catalogue of direct, physical attacks since 2014 covers 214 cases originating from China, far more than any other country.
“These egregious and high-profile cases are only the tip of the iceberg of a much broader system of surveillance, harassment, and intimidation….
“The extensive scope of China’s transnational repression is a result of a broad and ever-expanding definition of who should be subject to extraterritorial control by the Chinese Communist Party.”
House Select Committee on CCP, Congressional-Executive Commission on China: “Dear Secretary Blinken”
“On December 14, 2023, Hong Kong authorities, under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), issued five arrest warrants and HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounties on overseas activists accused of violating the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL). Two of said bounties are on a U.S. citizen and a U.S. resident. The Hong Kong authorities’ egregious attempt to intimidate and silence U.S. nationals engaged in peaceful political activism in the United States is outrageous and cannot be met with inaction. We urge the administration to take swift action and impose sanctions on the perpetrators of this reprehensible act of transnational repression. We also urge you to work with Congress to address transnational repression.”
