President Trump signed a bill that sanctions China for interference in the previously autonomous region of Hong Kong today as well as removed preferential treatment for trade with entities in Hong Kong, CNBC reports.
The Hong Kong Autonomy Act sanctions Chinese officials and companies that assisted the communist government impose and enforce a new Chinese law that suppressed dissent among the Hong Kong population.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the new Chinese law, which essentially eliminated Hong Kong’s autonomy and banned anti-Chinese literature, an “Orwellian move.”
Trump has long tried to paint presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as a friend of China. He continued that political tactic after announcing the sanctions in a Rose Garden statement today.
In contrast, Trump has repeated dragged his feet in implementing sanctions against Russia, whether it was for election interference or for the poisoning of a Russian dissident in the United Kingdom, an act that left a British civilian dead.