US Lawmakers Urge Blinken to Sanction Hong Kong Officials for Placing Bounties on Activists

Published on December 21, 2023

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials, following a decision by the city’s authorities to place bounties for information leading to the arrest of five overseas activists, including a U.S. citizen and a U.S. resident. In a letter to Mr. Blinken on Dec. 19, four congressmen—Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the chairman and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); and Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the chair and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China—said the Hong Kong police’s bounties are the latest example of communist China’s transnational repression....