On Monday, China imposed sanctions on 11 Americans, including Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, in response to similar steps taken by Washington against Chinese officials against the backdrop of Beijing's security crackdown in Hong Kong.
Last week, Washington accused 11 officials of suppressing "freedoms and democratic processes" in Hong Kong, including the city's leader, Carrie Lam, and announced that it would freeze any assets they had in the United States.
The move was considered Washington's strongest response so far to Beijing's imposition of a controversial new law on the city related to national security.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said today that the US move is "a blatant interference in China's internal affairs and a serious violation of international law."
He also said, "China has decided to impose sanctions on some people who have behaved badly on issues related to Hong Kong."
Sanctions include the director of "Human Rights Watch" Kenneth Roth, and the head of the National Endowment for Democracy Karl Gershman. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman did not specify the details of the sanctions.
Republicans, Rubio and Cruz, are among the most prominent supporters of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong since huge and sometimes violent protests erupted last year.
And Beijing accused "foreign powers" of stirring up unrest, which they responded by imposing a security law in late June, raising political concerns in the semi-autonomous city.
City officials have since postponed local elections that were supposed to take place, justifying the decision to spread the Corona virus (Covid-19).
The authorities also issued arrest warrants for six activists living in exile, and launched a security campaign against others.
Reciprocal accusations
The latest US measures come three months before the presidential elections scheduled for November, as the Chinese file has become part of President Donald Trump's election campaign, which polls indicate that his opponent, Joe Biden, is advancing it.
With the high level of dissatisfaction with the way he dealt with the outbreak of the Corona epidemic, Trump moved from focusing on the issue of concluding a trade agreement with China to holding it responsible for the Corona outbreak crisis across the world.
Washington and Beijing engaged in controversy on several fronts in recent months, as the two sides exchanged sanctions against the background of the mass detention operations carried out by China against members of mostly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
On Thursday, Trump also ordered Americans to stop doing business with the popular Chinese "WeChat" and "TikTok" apps, within 45 days.
The decision stated that China may use TikTok to track down federal employees, prepare files for people to blackmail them, and carry out espionage operations on companies.