HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government fully supports the central government's counter-measure against the United States and will facilitate its enforcement, an HKSAR government spokesman said on Monday.

In a statement released on Monday evening, the spokesman said the sanctions that the central government imposed on 11 individuals from the US were “necessary” for safeguarding the interests of the nation. 

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced earlier on Monday sanctions against 11 persons from the US in response to the so-called "sanctions" introduced unreasonably days earlier by the US government against officials of the central government and the HKSAR government.

“The imposition of sanctions against 11 persons from the US by the central government in response to the wrongful act of the US is necessary for safeguarding the interests of our nation. The HKSAR government fully supports the move and will facilitate its enforcement in accordance with the law,” the spokesman said.

In a statement released on Monday evening, the spokesman said the sanctions that the central government imposed on 11 individuals from the US were “necessary” for safeguarding the interests of the nation

Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey, and Representative Chris Smith are among those targeted by China's sanctions.

Also under sanctions are Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy; Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute; Daniel Twining, president of the International Republican Institute; Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch and Michael J Abramowitz, president of Freedom House.

The HKSAR government spokesman noted that the US passed laws and pronounced an executive order in recent months targeting the HKSAR under the pretext of human rights, democracy and autonomy, “blatantly deviating from international laws and basic norms governing international relations and ignoring the rampant violence in the HKSAR in the past year.” 

“It also smeared the National Security Law which was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and applied in Hong Kong by promulgation, displaying in full its double standards and hypocrisy and seriously damaging our bilateral relations,” the spokesman said. 

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''The US government has gone further in recent days by imposing the so-called 'sanctions' against officials of the central government and the HKSAR government. The act is shameless and despicable, and is resented by the people of Hong Kong and the whole nation,” he said.

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Meanwhile, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of China's State Council also voiced firm support for the Chinese foreign ministry's decision to impose sanctions.

A spokesperson with the office said the 11 US individuals sanctioned had notorious records on affairs related to the HKSAR of China. 

These included coming up with Hong Kong-related bills, blatantly supporting "Hong Kong independence" organizations and violent radicals, or smearing the "one country, two systems" and the National Security Law by various means.

The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) also expressed strong support for the counter-measure against the US by the foreign ministry.

A spokesperson of the liaison office stressed that no concessions will be made on major issues concerning China's sovereignty, security and development interests, adding that the so-called sanction against some Chinese officials by the US Treasury Department is full of absurdity.

"The false claim that 'the United States stands with the people of Hong Kong' is a huge lie and joke," the spokesperson said. "The way out for Hong Kong lies in the correct implementation of 'one country, two systems'. Hong Kong's future lies in being with its strong motherland."

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With inputs from Xinhua, Wang Qingyun