China puts 11 Americans under personal sanctions

China has imposed sanctions on 11 Americans, including Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas and director of Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth. A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this at a press conference on Monday, reports Reuters news agency. It is a counter-reaction to the punitive measures taken by the United States against 11 Chinese officials in Hong Kong, including the highest leader Carrie Lam.

The spokesman said that China is imposing sanctions on ” Americans who have behaved badly in matters relating to Hong Kong.”The affected Americans are representatives of the people such as senators Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley and Pat Toomey and NGO workers.

On Friday, the US imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese for the controversial security act of last June which curbs Hong Kong’s autonomy from China. Their potential financial assets in the US were frozen and Americans are no longer allowed to do business with them.

It is the second time in a short time that the US and China have been imposing sanctions over and over again. Last month, the US imposed sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the repression of the Uighurs in the Xinjiang region in China, including the freezing of financial assets and the denial of access to the US. As a counter reaction, China imposed sanctions on a number of Americans. Back then, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were targeted because they openly criticised Beijing.

Relations between the US and China have deteriorated further in recent months. There were conflicts over trade relations, the status of Hong Kong and the Chinese approach to the coronary artery disease. The US was also angry about China’s claims to a part of the South China Sea and was displeased with the US Health minister’s visit to Taiwan, which sees China as a renegade province.