Hong Kong has ‘responsibility’ to implement sanctions law: Chan

Hong Kong has a “constitutional responsibility” to implement the anti-sanctions law that China has passed to ensure the city’s long-term and steady development, Financial Secretary Paul Chan wrote in his blog on Sunday.

Chan joins Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam in backing local legislation to include Beijiing’s anti-sanctions law in the city’s constitution.

The U.S. has interfered with Hong Kong affairs, including imposing “unjustified” sanctions on officials and ending a special tariff treatment, and Washington’s acts of bullying are intensifying, Chan wrote.

The anti-sanctions law, passed in June by the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, is designed to provide more diverse counter-measures in the “policy toolbox,” according to Chan. Increasing options will ensure that there is enough “counter-attack” force to respond, he wrote.

The way in which this law will be implemented in Hong Kong remains to be decided by the Standing Committee, Chan said in the blog.

The NPC Standing Committee, China’s top legislative body, will add the legislation to Hong Kong’s Basic Law this month, media including the South China Morning Post newspaper reported, citing unidentified people. The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the body would consider adding national laws to the annexes of the charters of both Hong Kong and Macau during a closed-door session Aug. 17-20, without specifying what legislation was under discussion.

The anti-sanctions law gives the Chinese government broad powers to seize assets from and deny visas to those who formulate or implement sanctions against the country. It also empowers individuals and companies to sue “individuals and organizations” to seek compensation for discriminatory practices in Chinese courts.