US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — The US Department of Commerce said it had blacklisted 33 Chinese companies and organizations that, according to US authorities, were involved in infringing on the rights of Muslims in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the PRC or threatening US national security.
Seven companies and two institutions were listed for “complicity in human rights abuses and abuses committed during the Chinese campaign of reprisals, mass arbitrary detentions, forced labor and high-tech surveillance of Uyghurs” and representatives of other national minorities in Xinjiang.
More than 20 Chinese companies and departments are listed for relations with the Chinese military, as they carry out trade operations in the interests of the PRC army, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement.
It notes that for those listed in the list of legal entities, restrictions are placed on the purchase of American goods, as well as goods produced abroad with American participation or using American technologies.
Foreign media, reporting on Washington’s new move, draw attention to the fact that the ministry’s statement on sanctions coincided with the consideration at the Beijing NPC session of the draft law on the “enforcement mechanism for national security” in Hong Kong.
US authorities condemn Beijing’s intention to adopt a new national security law for Hong Kong, considering this initiative a serious blow to the autonomy of this special administrative region, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“The decision to circumvent reliable legislative processes in Hong Kong and ignore the will of its residents will be a harbinger of the end of the high degree of autonomy that Beijing promised Hong Kong on the Joint Sino-British declaration on the transfer of Hong Kong certified by the UN,” said Pompeo in a statement.
He noted: “Any decision that infringes on Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms guaranteed by the Joint Sino-British Declaration on the Transfer of Hong Kong and the Basic Law (Hong Kong) will inevitably affect our attitude to the principle of“ one country, two systems ”and the status of this territory.”
Hong Kong National Security Bill
On Thursday, Chinese authorities announced their intention to pass a bill creating a “enforcement mechanism for national security” in Hong Kong.
Premier of the State Council of the People‘s Republic of China Li Keqiang during a speech at the annual session of the All-China People’s Representative Assembly (NPC), which opened on Friday, confirmed that Beijing intends to create “stable legal systems and enforcement mechanisms to protect national security in Hong Kong.”
The bill is expected to be adopted in China before the end of the annual NPC session next Thursday, May 28, but a number of procedural steps will be required for it to take effect. The adoption of the law will lead to increased supervision and censorship in Hong Kong, experts warn.
Hong Kong in 1997 for 50 years received the status of a special administrative region of the PRC. Despite Chinese sovereignty over territory, Hong Kong received wide autonomy until 2047 under the Sino-British Declaration and Basic Law.
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