US Should Expand Chinese Sanctions, Export Restrictions for Interference in Hong Kong, Experts Say

The U.S. and its allies should expand sanctions and continue cutting off China from sensitive technologies as it further undermines democracy in Hong Kong, experts and a U.S. lawmaker said. They also said the U.S. should consider making China meet certain human rights standards before allowing companies to do business there and should work closer with European partners to close off Chinese access to global markets.

“This idea of linking trade and human rights is a challenging one, obviously because of the ways in which our economies are intermixed,” said Ash Jain, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, speaking during a June 29 webinar hosted by the think tank. But he also said more countries are pursuing “selective decoupling in specific areas,” including in sensitive technology sectors like 5G, which is making the strategy more plausible. “It's now becoming clear that there are ways to diminish or minimize trade with China when it comes to issues or areas that affect national security and sensitive technologies,” Jain said.

The U.S. under both presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden has penalized Beijing for human rights violations in Hong Kong. Measures include sanctions against officials responsible for undermining democracy in Hong Kong (see 2103170027) and an increased set of export restrictions (see 2006290063). But those measures aren’t enough, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in brief comments during the webinar. “More must still be done,” said McCaul, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Walter Lohman, director of Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, said the “good news” is that the Biden administration has “basically picked up where the Trump administration” left off. But he warned the administration against penalizing U.S. companies for operating in China, and instead said sanctions should focus on senior Beijing officials. “The targeted sanctions approach is probably the best, because it at least gets at the pocketbooks of particular individuals and their family members,” Lohman said. “I would look at expanding that as much as we possibly can.”

Jain agreed, saying the U.S. needs to consider “extending sanctions to punish the Chinese Communist Party” and work with trading partners to make those measures as effective as possible. He also said more cooperation could lessen the impact of retaliatory measures from China. “The U.S. and its allies could seek to link in specific ways,” Jain said. “While this linkage could result in some countermeasures by Beijing, which need to be carefully considered, this new approach should merit consideration as part of a broader strategy to address China's challenge to the rules-based system.”

Although the panelists agreed that more sanctions are warranted, the ones already in place have not been entirely effective, said Ellen Bork, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong. She said several Chinese security and police officials sanctioned by the U.S. have since been promoted to new posts. “So far, the U.S. hasn't found the right pressure points,” she said. “We need to find more ways to target the power centers in Beijing. We need actions across the board.”

Bork also said partner countries, especially the United Kingdom, need to prioritize the Hong Kong issue and more vigorously penalize Beijing. “Essentially, the United States and its allies need to pursue democracy and human rights in Hong Kong with the same urgency and determination that China is using to try to destroy them,” she said.