HKSAR gov't fully supports central government's counter-measure against US

HONG KONG -- A spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Monday that the HKSAR government fully supports the central government's counter-measure against the United States and will facilitate its enforcement.

In response to the so-called "sanctions" introduced unreasonably by the US government against officials of the central government and the HKSAR government days earlier, China's foreign ministry announced sanctions against 11 persons from the United States on Monday.

"In recent months, the United States passed laws and pronounced an executive order targeting the HKSAR under the pretext of human rights, democracy and autonomy, blatantly deviating from international laws and basic norms governing international relations and ignoring the rampant violence in the HKSAR in the past year. It also smeared the national security law (in Hong Kong) which was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and applied in Hong Kong by promulgation, displaying in full its double standards and hypocrisy and seriously damaging our bilateral relations," the spokesman said.

The central government and the HKSAR government have repeatedly expressed firm opposition to the acts of the United States, and the central government has also emphasized that it reserved the right to take counter-measures, said the spokesman.

The spokesman added that the US government has gone further in recent days by imposing the so-called "sanctions" against officials of the central government and the HKSAR government, which is shameless and despicable, and is resented by the people of Hong Kong and the whole nation.

"The imposition of sanctions against 11 persons from the US by the central government in response to its wrongful act is necessary for safeguarding the interests of our nation. The HKSAR government fully supports the move and will facilitate its enforcement in accordance with the law," the spokesman added.