Washington (AFP)

Washington increased pressure on Beijing on Friday to "punish" those "responsible" for the recovery of Hong Kong by limiting their entry to the United States, at a time when the United States Congress seems determined to go further in the sanctions.

Donald Trump "has promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party officials who were responsible for the dismantling of Hong Kong's freedoms," said US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo.

"To do this", he announced "visa restrictions" for members of the all-powerful ruling party in China "considered responsible, or accomplices, for calling into question the high level of autonomy of Hong Kong" such than expected in Beijing’s international commitments.

These measures also target those responsible for "questioning human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the former British colony.

Mike Pompeo did not specify the number or the identity of the people targeted, but stressed that their immediate family was also likely to be affected.

"The United States calls on China to honor its commitments," added the secretary of state, threatening to take further action.

"We urge the Americans to immediately correct their mistakes, remove these measures and stop interfering in Chinese internal affairs," said the Chinese Embassy in the United States.

"China will continue to take strong measures to ensure national sovereignty, security and the development of its interests," she added in a statement.

China announced last month a controversial bill to regain control of security in Hong Kong, immediately judged by local opposition and much of the international community as a way to silence the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong .

- "Not at all sufficient" -

Donald Trump, deploring a "tragedy for the people of Hong Kong", paved the way for a questioning of the preferential status, notably in commercial matters, granted to the territory by the United States. In the eyes of the administration of the American president, it is a question of making understand to China that Hong Kong, without real autonomy, can lose its prosperity and its attractiveness, and therefore its role of world financial place so important for the economy whole Chinese.

But in the US Congress, many elected officials, both Republicans and Democrats, consider the Trump government's response still too timid to dissuade the Chinese authorities from adopting their text for good.

"Visa restrictions are not enough to deter China from continuing its campaign against freedoms in Hong Kong," said Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, calling for "additional sanctions".

This elected official is one of the authors of a bill adopted Thursday by the Senate, unanimously, and which provides for more severe automatic sanctions.

If it is also voted by the House of Representatives and then promulgated by the Republican billionaire, it would punish the leaders of the Communist Party behind the law on national security in Hong Kong, as well as the police units involved in the repression of Hong Kong demonstrators.

Above all, banks that carry out "significant transactions" with sanctioned persons or entities would in turn be targeted by punitive measures.

This dispute has further accentuated the tensions between the two leading world powers, already in the midst of a confrontation over the spread of the new coronavirus, for which Donald Trump blames Beijing.

Initially willingly friendly towards his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping despite the trade war between the two largest economic powers in the world, the American president has hardened his tone. In this he follows the already much firmer positions of his government, led by the anti-China hawk Mike Pompeo, convinced that the Asian giant is the main long-term strategic adversary of the United States.

U.S. foreign chief met with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi in Hawaii last week, but crisis meeting failed to stop escalation, and Mike Pompeo has since continued to publicize his indictment against China .

© 2020 AFP