Chief Executive of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam Monday said the U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration used so-called sanctions against some Chinese officials to serve own interests.
Lam made the remarks during an exclusive interview with CGTN.
U.S. earlier imposed sanctions against heads of Chinese government agencies responsible for Hong Kong affairs and officials of the HKSAR including Lam.
When asked what the U.S. is trying to convey through imposing sanctions, Lam said “By now I think it’s quite clear that all this is part of a ploy of the U.S. administration for their self-serving interest.”
“Hong Kong is ready point for them to do such a thing because we are such an open society and we have a small portion of people who tend to be more radical and critical of the government of the mainland,” she added.
The chief executive voiced strong opposition against such U.S. acts, saying it should be condemned not only by people of Hong Kong but also the international community.
Because of the sanctions, the chief executive said she may meet some inconvenience when using some financial service.
However, Lam called the sanctions meaningless. From her perspective, the most important thing is that she and other HKSAR officials feel honored at this historical moment being trusted by the central government to enforce a piece of national law to safeguard national security.
She said the more attacks they meet means the more effective the legislation is, adding that she and her colleagues are determined to continue their work and won’t be intimidated.
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When talking about the postponement of the 2020 Legislative Council (LegCo) election in the HKSAR, Lam said she knew she could meet all kinds of speculations for making the decision since the participation of LegCo election is always high and Hong Kong society is now going through highly politicized and very polarized situation.
However she stressed “nothing is more important than people’s life”.
As more than 4,500 cases have been reported since epidemic broke out in the HKSAR, Lam said she cannot take risk of Hong Kong people’s life and safety.
She believes it is a right and responsible decision to postpone the LegCo poll so as to ensure a safe and fair election.
