China to Sanction Senior U.S. Officials Over Recent Hong Kong Punishment

China has announced sanctions against senior U.S. officials and will cancel visa-free entry to Hong Kong and Macau for the country’s diplomatic passport holders, its foreign ministry said Thursday.

At a regular press briefing, spokesperson Hua Chunying said the countermeasures were a direct response to Washington’s interference in its “internal affairs” in Hong Kong.

It comes as China vowed “stern” retaliation after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced U.S. sanctions against 14 standing members of China’s National People’s Congress on Monday. The State Department said it would freeze their U.S.-based assets and impose travel bans in response to Beijing’s efforts to quash the democratic movement in Hong Kong, a former British colony.

“China has decided to sanction senior administrative officials, members of Congress, NGO representatives and their immediate families for their bad behavior on the Hong Kong issue,” Chunying said.

Beijing would also revoke visa waivers to Hong Kong and Macau for American diplomats with valid passports, she added.

The foreign ministry did not give further details and did not name those most likely to appear on its sanctions list, but Chinese state media has long speculated that Secretary Pompeo—one of China’s strongest critics in recent years—would be one of the first to be sanctioned.

Communist Party newspaper Global Times, which represents Beijing’s most hawkish views, said it was the first time high-level U.S. officials had been included in targeted sanctions.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

File photo: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is expected to be high on the list of senior U.S. officials sanctioned by China over disagreements about its policies in Hong Kong. PATRICK SEMANSKY/AFP via Getty Images