US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo November 10, 2020 in Washington.
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP / SIPA
Diplomatic tensions.
US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo on Thursday called for the “immediate” and “unconditional” release of the 53 pro-democracy opposition figures arrested for “subversion” in Hong Kong, threatening those responsible for the repression with sanctions .
"The United States will not stand idly by while the people of Hong Kong are subjected to communist oppression," the US Secretary of State insisted in a statement.
American lawyer among arrests
Mike Pompeo thus indicated that the United States would consider "sanctions and restrictions against each person or entity involved in this attack targeting the Hong Kong people".
More than fifty pro-democracy opposition figures, including a US lawyer, were arrested in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the biggest crackdown to date under China's recent national security law.
For Mike Pompeo, these arrests illustrate "the contempt of the Chinese Communist Party towards its own people and towards the rule of law".
In 2020, the Chinese authorities initiated a strong takeover of the former British colony, the scene the previous year of a pro-democracy popular mobilization unprecedented since its handover to China in 1997.
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