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Hong Kong national security law
Hong KongPolitics

National security law: who are the Hong Kong officials with US assets that may be affected by Trump’s sanctions?

  • Exco convenor Bernard Chan has a property in San Francisco while executive councillor Laura Cha has a rental flat through an offshore company in an undisclosed US location
  • A Post check on the declaration of interests by Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her 16 ministers shows they have no disclosed American assets

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US President Donald Trump signed a law and issued an executive order on Wednesday to sanction individuals and banks deemed to have aided the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy. Photo: Bloomberg
Kimmy ChungandLilian Cheng
Possible American sanctions against Hong Kong officials for their perceived role in eroding the city’s autonomy by supporting the national security law would have minimal impact as only two members of the city leader’s cabinet have declared assets in the United States.
But one cabinet member admitted that the punitive moves were harsher and broader than expected, expressing concerns they would create a chilling effect among Hong Kong officials.
In retaliation for Beijing’s decision to impose a national security legislation on Hong Kong, US President Donald Trump signed a law and issued an executive order on Wednesday to sanction individuals and banks deemed to have aided the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy. He also put forth an executive order ending the city’s preferential trading and other privileges.

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Foreign individuals or entities determined by the US secretary of state to fall into this category will be blocked from investing, transferring, exporting, withdrawing or dealing with any property or interests in property in the US.

The people in question could include not just mainland Chinese officials but also Hong Kong government figures involved in developing and enforcing the national security law. They also include those who, directly or indirectly, are seen as having undermined democratic development in the city, censoring or penalising freedom of expression.

I have no assets in the US, and I don’t particularly like going to the US
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong leader

The definition of assets could cover property, bank accounts and shares but the executive order did not spell these out.

In response to the possible sanctions, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she had no fear, though she was named by the US authorities.

“I have no assets in the US, and I don’t particularly like going to the US. If they won’t grant me a visa, then I will just not go there,” Lam said in a TV interview broadcast on Thursday night.

A Post check on the declaration of interests by Lam and her 16 ministers found that they had no disclosed American assets.

Of another 16 non-official members of the Executive Council, who serve as advisers to Lam on her de facto cabinet, two have declared owning property in the US.

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