The retaliation from the United States on Tuesday came after the 45 were jailed for four to 10 years for their participation in a plot to overthrow the government in 2020, with former legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting receiving the stiffest sentence for masterminding an unauthorised legislative “primary” election to subvert state power.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the defendants were “aggressively prosecuted” and now faced “life-altering imprisonment simply for their peaceful participation in political activities” protected under the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.
“In response, the Department of State is taking steps to impose new visa restrictions on multiple Hong Kong officials responsible for implementation of the national security law,” he said.
The subversion case, which drew to a close on Tuesday, was the city’s largest and longest-running trial under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, following anti-government protests the year before.
More to follow …
