The U.S. on Monday sanctioned six senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials for ¡°transnational repression¡± and further eroding the autonomy of Hong Kong, in the first major move by the Trump administration to punish China over its crackdown on the city.

¡°Beijing and Hong Kong officials have used Hong Kong national security laws extraterritorially to intimidate, silence, and harass 19 pro-democracy activists who were forced to flee overseas, including a U.S. citizen and four other U.S. residents,¡± the State Department said in a statement.

In response, the U.S. is sanctioning six individuals who have ¡°engaged in actions or policies that threaten to further erode the autonomy of Hong Kong in contravention of China¡¯s commitments, and in connection with acts of transnational repression,¡± it said.