Editor's note: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain is a former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, and currently serves as assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

From propping up alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang to provoking Beijing in the South China Sea, the United States in its latest move under the Donald Trump administration imposed sanctions on 14 Chinese officials of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) over their alleged role in the disqualification of elected representatives in Hong Kong. The timing of the sanctions coincides with the incoming Joe Biden's administration being just months away from assuming power in the White House. 

In addition to electoral politics pursued by the Trump administration prior to the transition, the latest sanctions are controversial given that the merits cited upon which Chinese officials are being targeted are debatable. A deeper understanding of the vagaries of China's internal matters pertaining to the Hong Kong quagmire is also absent and evidence suggests that the Trump administration is focused upon sustaining its campaign to strangulate Beijing internationally on multiple fronts.

Firstly, China's measures in Hong Kong do not constitute illegal annexations, invasions, interventions or exercising coercion but a restoration of law and order on its own territory on the premise of curbing subversion. The sanctions imposed by the Trump administration cite contraventions to the rule of law and violations of laws allowing legislators to practice freedom of expression and express their opinions.

Interestingly enough, on November 11, 2020, the NPCSC cited attempts to publicize and support independence from the Chinese mainland through foreign interference and activities which endanger national security as grounds for taking stern measures. Under international law, a sovereign state exercising jurisdiction over its territory cannot be contested legally. 

The decision to freeze assets and employ financial penalties on officials of the NPCSC hint at how clear distinctions have been sidelined by the Trump administration while authorizing sanctions. The measures are in fact aimed at fomenting internal discord within China that the United States has employed historically in countries across the world. The definition of the sanctions fits with gross interference and violations of state sovereignty as mentioned by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying during a press briefing in response to the sanctions.

Secondly, the expulsion of opposition lawmakers was at the behest of the ruling government in a democratic set up in Hong Kong based on powers granted by Beijing. The premise of democratic freedoms being eroded is thus hollow and is more of the standard, myopic narrative emanating from Washington, D.C. on China which belittles the presence of democracy in the territory. 

The "One Country, Two Systems" formula is in all actuality, firmly intact and challenges the assertion made by White House National Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien, who had said that the expulsion demonstrated that the "One Country, Two Systems" formula which guaranteed Hong Kong's autonomy no longer existed. 

Measures undertaken to ensure penalties are imposed with distinctions between pro-democracy activists and those calling for secession, disruption, discord and independence from a sovereign state are variables not accounted for while sanctions were being levied and such narrow-minded assessments are similar to references made on reeducation camps in Xinjiang with scant understanding from the Trump administration between seeking greater autonomy and secessionism through the employment of force, the latter of which is deemed as a threat to national security.

Earlier in July this year, President Trump issued Executive Order 13936 and signed it into the Hong Kong Autonomy Act 2020 (HKAA) three months prior to the expulsion of opposition lawmakers in the territory. 

Furthermore, Bloomberg reported that the Trump team had already created a list of officials that it planned on targeting financially. While the U.S. took aim at figures considered to be responsible for measures such as the loyalty resolution, the Trump administration's early blueprint was evidently targeting the Communist Party of China which goes beyond the issue of expulsion of opposition lawmakers alone. It is part of the systematic targeted campaign aimed at delegitimizing China in Hong Kong with a blueprint drawn out well before the sanctions were imposed on 14 Chinese officials. 

The House of Representatives will be voting on a bill that offers protected status for Hong Kong residents fleeing persecution from Beijing. This measure is polarizing and divisive given that it blatantly disregards distinctions that are to be made between criminals employing sedition and dissidents, pro-democracy activists and vagrants in a sovereign territory. 

Such blatant disregard alienates sovereign states and often prompts a stern reaction which escalates tensions. China has so far called for less interference in its internal affairs. Furthermore, calls for dialogue have been largely ignored by the Trump administration which makes the possibility of rapprochement as envisioned earlier by Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai, elusive.

The latest sanctions are toxic and pernicious and fit the definition of short-sightedness and knee-jerk reactions that are once again on display from the Trump administration regarding a Chinese domestic issue. Further alienation awaits the Trump administration on the subject of Hong Kong as its nefarious designs continue to be exposed.

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