The US Department of State imposed new visa restrictions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials on Friday after a Hong Kong court convicted 14 activists of conspiring to commit subversion under the China-imposed National Security Law. Chinese and Hong Kong government spokespersons denounced the sanctions as a “gross interference” in China’s and Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

To impose the new sanctions, the State Department is invoking section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The section provides that any alien is inadmissible if a consular officer or the Attorney General knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe, that the alien seeks to enter the US to engage in unlawful activities with the intent to undermine the security of the US.

On Thursday, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance convicted 14 activists, along with 31 activists who previously pleaded guilty, of conspiring to commit subversion by holding a democracy camp primary election. The court held that the election was an attempt to achieve a majority in the Legislative Council and thereafter veto budgets indiscriminately. The court held that the proposed indiscriminate manner, which is an abuse of the lawmaker’s constitutional powers, would have paralyzed the government’s operation and forced then Chief Executive Carrie Lam to dissolve the Legislative Council and resign pursuant to the Basic Law.

Matthew Miller, the State Department’s spokesperson, contended that the prosecution was politically motivated because the activists engaged in political activities that are protected under the Basic Law. Miller further called for the immediate release of detained activists and to put on halt the use of national security laws to restrain peaceful dissent.

Apart from the US, the UK, the EU and Australia similarly denounced the convictions as politically motivated prosecutions and a deterioration of fundamental freedoms and democratic participation. Particularly, the UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne Marie Trevelyan said, “The NSL 47 are guilty of nothing more than seeking to exercise their right to freedom of speech, of assembly and of political participation, as guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.”

In response, the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong SAR and the Hong Kong government reiterated that the primary election was aimed at challenging the constitutional order of Hong Kong and the law enforcement agencies took action based on evidence and in accordance with the law. Immediately after the verdicts, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung also accredited the court and the Department of Justice for upholding national security amidst foreign threats and interference.