The Chinese national flag flies in front of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong Photo: AFP

The latest sanction imposed by the US government on seven deputy directors of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong violates the UN Charter, the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation denounced in a letter to the US Consul General in Hong Kong. 

The US government issued an advisory on Friday to warn US businesses about risks to their operations and activities in Hong Kong and imposed a sanction on seven Hong Kong liaison office officials, a move which was called "wastepaper" by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday. 

In the letter from Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, a group of lawyers denounced the US government for violating Article 2(7) of the UN Charter which expressly states that neither the UN nor any of its members shall intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state. 

Additionally, this principle is reinforced by UN Resolution 2625 on the duty of nonintervention in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of any state, in accordance with the charter, that no state or group of states has the right to intervene directly or indirectly, for any reason, in the internal or external affairs of any other state. 

Consequently, armed intervention and all other forms of interference or attempted threats against the personality of the state or against its political, economic and cultural elements are in violation of international law, the letter said. 

Both the UN Charter and UN Resolution 2625 are legally binding on the US government and the aforesaid sanction clearly and blatantly violates international law, the letter added.