US warns of more China sanctions over Hong Kong moves

The United States has warned of further sanctions against China, which it said "flagrantly violated" Hong Kong's autonomy after the ousting of four anti-Beijing lawmakers.

"Beijing's recent actions disqualifying anti-Beijing legislators from Hong Kong's Legislative Council leave no doubt that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has flagrantly violated its international commitments," said Robert O'Brien, US national security adviser.

He added that the United States would continue "to identify and sanction those responsible for extinguishing Hong Kong's freedom."

READ MORE: Anti-Beijing lawmakers in Hong Kong to resign en masse

New sanctions

On Monday, the United States imposed sanctions on four more officials accused of curbing freedoms in Hong Kong while vowing accountability over China's clampdown in the city.

Edwina Lau, head of the National Security Division of the Hong Kong Police Force, was among the officials who will be barred from travelling to the United States and whose US-based assets, if any, will be frozen.

Wednesday's statement from O'Brien, the national security adviser in Donald Trump's outgoing administration, came in response to the ousting of four of Hong Kong's anti-Beijing lawmakers by the city's pro-Beijing authorities.

READ MORE: Hong Kong teen activist charged with secession

En masse resignations

Hong Kong's other anti-Beijing lawmakers reacted by saying they would all quit in protest, reducing the semi-autonomous city's once-feisty legislature to a gathering of Chinese loyalists.

The resignations are the latest blow to the city's beleaguered anti-Beijing movement, which has been under sustained attack since China imposed a sweeping national security law, including arrests for social media posts and activists fleeing overseas.