Yonden Lhatoo

Just Saying | At least make America well again first, then carry on fighting China

Yonden Lhatoo sees the announcement of US sanctions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong as the latest distraction by a government which should be fighting a coronavirus catastrophe on its own home front as a priority

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Yonden Lhatoo

Published: 4:47pm, 27 Jun 2020Updated: 10:39pm, 27 Jun 2020

So the US has just fired another salvo at China, using Hong Kong as convenient cannon fodder in their steadily heating Cold War.

And once again, it was delivered by secretary of state and thug-diplomacy specialist Mike Pompeo.

“President [Donald] Trump promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] officials who were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong’s freedoms. Today, we are taking action to do just that,” Pompeo said.

“I am announcing visa restrictions on current and former CCP officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, as guaranteed in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, or undermining human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. Family members of such persons may also be subject to these restrictions.”

Mike Pompeo did not identify who was on the US blacklist. Photo: AFP

Curiously, no individuals on this blacklist were identified, which seems to defeat its very purpose, unless the names are coming at a later stage.