China announced sanctions on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her landmark trip to Taiwan this week, making her the highest-ranking US official designated for penalties by Beijing.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced the unspecified sanctions against Pelosi and her immediate family after the speaker departed from Japan late Friday. Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing that tensions over Taiwan this week had been “entirely caused by Speaker Pelosi and US politicians.”
China didn’t specify what the sanctions entailed, but previous measures have restricted individuals from entering China, Hong Kong or Macau, or doing business there. Such curbs are likely to be largely symbolic for Pelosi.
Washington has so far resisted sanctioning Pelosi’s Chinese counterpart legislative leader and No. 3 official, Li Zhanshu, over his central role imposing the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020. Wang Chen, vice chairman of the legislature and a member of the 25-member Politburo, is the highest-ranking Chinese official to face US penalties.
