GOP senator: U.S. cannot ‘sit by idly’ as China ‘systematically’ destroys Hong Kong’s autonomy

If his bill, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, were to become law, Toomey said the State Department would have to list entities and people in China who “are responsible for inflicting this crackdown on Hong Kong.”

“They will be subject to sanctions themselves, financial sanctions including things like freezing their assets but also secondary sanctions, which is to say restricting the activities of banks that finance those individuals and those entities,” Toomey said. “I think that’s a pretty big hammer to be wielding.” 

The U.S. relationship with Beijing is strained over the coronavirus pandemic and other tension points, Toomey acknowledged, but he said Washington must respond to the developments on Hong Kong.

Toomey, a member of the Senate Finance and Budget committees, said he believes China’s new national security law is “much worse” than the extradition proposal last year that triggered the widespread demonstrations.  

“This would simply impose the entire Chinese criminal justice, or criminal injustice system, directly on the people of Hong Kong,” he said. “It’s pretty essential, I think, that we respond to that.” 

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/28/sen-patrick-toomey-us-must-respond-to-china-crackdown-on-hong-kong.html