Ahead of talks, US slaps sanctions on 24 China and Hong Kong officials

The United States imposed sanctions on 24 more Chinese and Hong Kong officials over Beijing’s crackdown on political freedoms in the former British colony. This comes just before the first high-level face-to-face talks between Washington and Beijing in Alaska. In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the latest sanctions show the US’s ’deep concern’ about the situation in Hong Kong.