Hong Kong Photo: VCG

US' decision to place 14 top Chinese officials on its sanctions list is an act of "hysterical political bullying," which goes against international law and basic norms of international relations, said China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, condemning US' latest move on Tuesday. 

"No country would turn a blind eye to acts or activities that endanger its national security, and allow people who secede, subvert the regime, or collude with foreign forces to hold important public positions," said China's top office on Hong Kong and Macao affairs in a statement on Tuesday.

The office called the US sanction "blatant double standards and bandit-style logic," referring to the long-established stringent laws safeguarding national security in the US, and strict legal provisions on the oath of allegiance and disqualification of parliamentarians. 

The US Treasury Department announced on Monday that it was imposing sanctions against 14 individuals - all vice chairs of the 13th NPC Standing Committee, over the Hong Kong issue. They include Wang Chen, vice chairman of the NPC, who first officially unveiled the national security law for Hong Kong in May. Other officials included Chen Zhu, Cao Jianming, Ding Zhongli, Imirbaki Arken and Zhang Chunxian. The sanctions aim to block the assets, impose restrictions on individual transactions and bar the officials from entering the US. 

"The US is wantonly slandering, brutally interfering with, and brutally suppressing the legitimate work of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China to perfect 'one country, two systems' and safeguard national security and the constitutional order of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regionin accordance with national laws and international rules," it said.

"The repugnant tactics of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others have proven to be futile and ineffective," the office stated. "The implementation of National Security Law for Hong Kong has restored stability to Hong Kong society, and the rule of law and justice have been upheld." 

Every time the US imposes so-called sanctions, it only makes the Chinese people more determined to safeguard national security, and reveals to Hongkongers the ugly face of US hegemony. It will not shake the determination and confidence of the Chinese government to unswervingly implement the "one country, two systems" policy, and cannot stop China's rejuvenation, the statement said. 

The HMO quoted a traditional Western proverb: "Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad", warning that if Pompeo and others go on a final rampage, they will only be "throwing stones at themselves," and will suffer corresponding consequences.

Since turmoil was triggered by anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019, US lawmakers have come up with various measures reacting to the national security law for Hong Kong, including signing the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and imposing sanctions on Hong Kong officials, while the Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly voiced strong opposition to US' blatant and reckless interference in China's internal affairs.