Van Hollen, Toomey Release First Administration Report Detailing Individuals Undermining Hong Kong’s Autonomy

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) released the Administration’s first report required by the Senators’ recently enacted legislation, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. The report identifies individuals undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy. 

“The enactment of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act has already pressured the Administration to hold responsible individuals who are actively working to take away the democratic rights of the people of Hong Kong, and it requires important transparency about what actions are being taken. This report indicates that, unfortunately, the Administration is moving too slowly in expanding the number of individuals and entities held accountable under the Act. I urge them to take additional measures and hope to see them reflected in the next report we receive. We will continue working to support the people of Hong Kong as they fight for their freedom,” said Senator Van Hollen. 

“The intent of communist China’s national security law is to crush the autonomy and basic rights of the people of Hong Kong. The United States should strive to stand up to authoritarian regimes, like the one in China, with strong sanctions. The list released by the State Department consists solely of Chinese and Hong Kong officials who are already being sanctioned under an executive order. The State Department should expand this list and use the sanctioning power in the HKAA to penalize the other officials and entities that are enforcing or enabling the national security law,” said Senator Toomey. 

The report can be found here.