China Defends Sanctions on Pompeo, Others as ‘Legitimate and Necessary’

The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry was unfazed Thursday by White House criticism of China’s sanctions against 28 former Trump administration officials, including ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, prohibiting them and their immediate families from visiting China, Hong Kong and Macao, and restricting companies they work for from doing business with the Chinese (see 2101200027). A National Security Council spokesperson called the sanctions “unproductive and cynical,” but a ministry spokesperson defended them as “a legitimate and necessary response.” China has warned “multiple times that these anti-China politicians will pay for their crazy acts,” she said. “We hope the new U.S. administration will view China and China-U.S. relations in an objective and rational manner” and help bring those relations “back onto the track of sound and stable development,” she said.