(Hong Kong) Beijing on Monday likened outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “a mantis,” after new sanctions targeted Chinese and Hong Kong officials in the wake of a widespread crackdown on pro-democracy activists in the United States. Semi-autonomous territory.
Mike Pompeo, the hawk who never missed an opportunity to speak out against China, spent his last days as head of US diplomacy taking action against Beijing.
On Friday, the United States imposed sanctions on six Chinese and Hong Kong officials, including the former British colony’s sole representative on the standing committee of the Chinese parliament.
They took this step in response to the recent arrests of 55 pro-democracy activists and former elected officials in the name of the National Security Act.
“The development of Hong Kong, which has gone from chaos to stability, is irreversible,” said the Hong Kong and Macau Beijing office on Monday.
“People like Pompeo are nothing but silly prayer horses trying in vain to stop the course of history.”
The metaphor refers to a Chinese expression mocking a mantis trying to stop a cart with its feet.
The office urged Pompeo, who described the US sanctions as a “political trick” used “after all other tricks have been exhausted,” to “end the show,” in reference to the end of President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday. .
On Saturday, the Hong Kong executive criticized the sanctions for “impudence, rudeness and contempt,” expressing his “greatest anger” and denouncing these “coercive measures” which represent Washington’s latest attempt to interfere in the party’s internal affairs. China.
In 2019 Hong Kong was hit by seven months of massive and violent pro-democracy protests.
China has put an end to the movement, including last year the imposition of a strict national security law on the financial center.
At least 90 people were arrested under this legislation while many have been accused of participating in protests or promoting democracy.
The United States has already imposed sanctions on eleven Hong Kong leaders, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
