U.S. senators seek to sanction Chinese officials over Hong Kong

Republican and Democratic U.S. senators said on Thursday they would introduce legislation to impose sanctions on Chinese officials for violating Hong Kong’s independence, after Beijing moved to impose a new security law on the former British colony.

The bill, to be introduced by Republican Senator Pat Toomey and Democrat Chris Van Hollen, would also impose secondary sanctions on banks that do business with entities found to violate the law guaranteeing Hong Kong’s autonomy.

“This bipartisan legislation will impose serious penalties on those working to strip Hong Kong of its autonomy,” Van Hollen said in a statement.