Officials express support for sanctions against US individuals

A mainland spokeswoman on Thursday expressed firm support for imposing sanctions on 28 individuals from the United States, including former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who have behaved badly on the Taiwan question.

China on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 28 US individuals because they "have seriously violated the country's sovereignty and who have been mainly responsible for such US moves on China-related issues", China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The sanctions prohibit those individuals and their immediate family members from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao. They and companies and institutions associated with them also are restricted from doing business with China.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, welcomed the move, saying the administration of the Democratic Progressive Party on Taiwan colluded with Pompeo and other US anti-China forces to make provocations and seek "independence" in recent years.

"The DPP administration betrayed the country's interests and will be judged and severely punished by history," she said.

Since the DPP came to power in 2016, and especially over the past two years, the island escalated its exchanges with the US. In the past year, several deals were made on US arms sales to the island, including offensive weapons. The US sent many senior officials to visit Taiwan, including Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Such visits were not allowed in the past.