Washington’s decision to end sanctions on nine Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials, including Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok and two national security staffers, is an olive branch from the US to China to improve relations after their two presidents met in May, political observers have said.
They and legal experts said the lifting of sanctions on the nine individuals marked a “friendly gesture” and was “significant”, but little had changed for dozens of others whose sanctions had expired but who were then placed on a different list.
Lawyers who spoke to the South China Morning Post said that although the 39 other officials, including Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, were moved to a sanctions list with more “flexibility”, the new restrictions on them remained largely the same as before.
Sanctions compliance requirements for most businesses also remained largely unchanged, one of the lawyers said.
Their assessment followed the Trump administration’s decision to allow a national emergency declaration in an executive order concerning the city – which underpinned Washington’s decision to end Hong Kong’s preferential treatment in areas including trade and export controls – to expire.
The move came just days after US President Donald Trump accused China of interfering in American elections, an allegation that Beijing has sharply dismissed as a fabrication.
Under the original executive order, the United States imposed six rounds of sanctions targeting 48 Hong Kong and mainland officials between 2020 and 2025.