US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced China for undermining the independence of Hong Kong’s courts, as the State Department released a new report condemning Beijing’s crackdown on dissent in the Asian financial center.
The US has previously focused criticism of China for suppressing free speech, targeting journalists and civil society groups and denying Hong Kong residents the right to freely select their leader. Blinken’s comments on Friday underscored growing criticism that a legal system that helped make the city a hub for multinational firms has been harmed by efforts to quash the democracy movement that led to massive, sometimes-violent protests in 2019.
