27 May 2020 - 10:00US President Donald Trump. Picture: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNSTThe US is considering a range of sanctions to punish China for its crackdown on Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said, as the Trump administration weighs whether to declare that the former colony has lost its autonomy from Beijing.
President Donald Trump, asked about the possible sanctions at the White House on Tuesday, said his administration is “doing something now” that he will unveil later this week. “It’s something you’re going to be hearing about over the next — before the end of the week,” Trump said. “Very powerfully, I think.”The news hit US stocks in the final hour of trading on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 index losing almost half its gain.
Sanctioning individual Chinese officials and entities would leave intact the broader trading relationship, which serves the interests of hundreds of US companies with regional headquarters in Hong Kong. The US wants to maintain influence among Hong Kong residents in order to promote democratic freedoms in the city, which are still more advanced than any territory under China’s control.