Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration had cautioned governments and banks that continued transactions involving Iranian oil could trigger punitive measures. “If you are buying Iranian oil, that if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions,” he told reporters at the White House.

The warning comes as the U.S. enforces a naval blockade on Iran that began earlier this week, with officials saying they expect the move to curb purchases by key buyers, particularly China, which has accounted for the majority of Iran’s seaborne oil exports.

Bessent said the Treasury had contacted two Chinese banks, warning that they could face sanctions if evidence shows Iranian funds moving through their systems. China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Separately, the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions targeting Iran’s oil transportation network, including more than two dozen individuals, companies and vessels, as part of a broader effort to disrupt the country’s energy exports.

The measures follow the administration’s decision not to renew a 30-day sanctions waiver issued on March 20 that had allowed Iranian oil shipments already at sea to reach global markets.

The waiver, which Bessent said facilitated the delivery of about 140 million barrels, is set to expire on April 19.Washington has also allowed a similar waiver covering Russian oil shipments to lapse, reinforcing its broader sanctions enforcement strategy.

U.S. officials said letters had been sent to jurisdictions including China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, identifying financial institutions allegedly linked to Iranian transactions and warning of potential enforcement actions.

The steps are part of what the administration has described as a “maximum pressure” campaign aimed at curbing Iran’s oil revenues and limiting its ability to finance regional activities.

Curtis, speaking alongside fellow lawmakers including Jeanne Shaheen, said Taiwan should draw lessons from Hong Kong, where Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 following unrest, a move critics say curtailed freedoms.

The visit comes as President Lai Ching-te seeks approval for an additional $40 billion in defence spending, a proposal backed by Washington but currently stalled in the opposition-controlled parliament.

Taiwan’s government says the funding is necessary to strengthen deterrence against China, which claims the island as its territory. Opposition parties have expressed support in principle for defence measures but have resisted approving what they describe as open-ended commitments.

Curtis said Taiwan risked misjudging Beijing’s intentions if it ignored the trajectory of Hong Kong since its return to Chinese rule in 1997 under a framework guaranteeing autonomy.“My biggest worry for Taiwan is that they underestimate the intentions of China,” Curtis said, urging vigilance despite aspirations for peace.

China has simultaneously stepped up engagement with Taiwan’s opposition. Beijing has invited Cheng Li-wun, leader of the Kuomintang, to visit, a trip she has described as a “peace mission.”

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said China’s objective of annexation had not changed and cautioned against what it called “illusions” about peace, reflecting ongoing tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

In a statement released late on Saturday, the ministry’s Hong Kong office said Commissioner Cui Jianchun met U.S. Consul General Julie Eadeh on March 27 and conveyed “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to the alert, calling on the United States to stop intervening in Hong Kong matters “in any form.

”The dispute follows recent amendments to Hong Kong’s national security enforcement rules, which make it an offence in national security cases to refuse to provide passwords or other assistance to access electronic devices.

In response, the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong issued a public alert on March 26 advising U.S. citizens to contact the consulate if they are arrested or detained in connection with the updated rules.

The alert highlighted concerns over the expanded scope of enforcement powers under the revised framework.The U.S. Consulate General did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

The exchange underscores ongoing tensions between Beijing and Washington over Hong Kong’s governance and legal environment, particularly since the introduction of national security measures that foreign governments have said could affect civil liberties and legal protections.

Chinese authorities have consistently defended the measures as necessary to safeguard stability and national sovereignty, rejecting external criticism as unwarranted interference.

The measures expand enforcement powers under the Hong Kong national security law, introduced by Beijing in 2020 following large-scale pro-democracy protests in the financial hub.

The latest amendments mandate that individuals hand over “any password or other decryption method” needed for police to access electronic devices believed to contain evidence.

The rules apply not only to those under investigation for national security offences but also to individuals who own, possess, or are authorized to access the relevant devices, as well as anyone with knowledge of the required passwords or decryption tools.

Failure to comply constitutes a criminal offence, marking a shift from previous practice, where refusal to unlock devices was not treated as obstruction.The amendments were formulated under the direction of Chief Executive John Lee in coordination with the National Security Commission.

A government spokesperson said the measures aim to ensure that activities endangering national security can be “effectively prevented, suppressed and punished,” while safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organizations.

Hong Kong has further strengthened its legal framework with an additional security law enacted in 2024, complementing the broader legislation imposed after the 2019 unrest.

China Merchants Securities, citing industry forecasts, said last month the figure could exceed $2 trillion by 2030.

China’s securities watchdog has advised some local brokerages to pause their real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation business in Hong Kong, said two sources, signalling Beijing’s concerns of a euphoric drive towards a booming digital assets market offshore.

The RWA tokenisation process usually converts traditional assets such as stocks, bonds, funds and even real estate, into digital tokens traded on a blockchain. A raft of Chinese firms, including brokerages, have launched RWAs in Hong Kong over the past few months.

At least two leading brokerages have received informal guidance from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in recent weeks to refrain from conducting RWA business offshore, said the sources with knowledge of the matter.

One of the sources said the latest regulatory guidance is aimed at strengthening risk management of a new business and making sure the claims made by companies are backed by strong, legitimate businesses.

The move comes as Hong Kong over the past year ramped up efforts to position the Asian financial centre as a digital assets hub, with many firms, including Chinese brokerages, preparing for the launch of virtual asset trading, investment advisory and virtual asset management.

China, once the world’s biggest bitcoin trading and mining centre, on the other hand, has taken a cautious approach towards digital assets after it banned cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021 due to financial system stability concerns.

Last month, Chinese regulators asked big local brokers to halt publication of research endorsing stablecoins in a bid to curb a surge in interest in the digital currency among domestic investors, Reuters has reported, citing sources.

Beijing’s latest move comes even as Hong Kong said in June its Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) are conducting a legal review of RWA tokenisation, drawing on international experience.

The global RWA market is currently worth around $29 billion, according to data provider RWA.xyz. China Merchants Securities, citing industry forecasts, said last month the figure could exceed $2 trillion by 2030.

China, once the world’s biggest bitcoin trading and mining centre, on the other hand, has taken a cautious approach towards digital assets after it banned cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021 due to financial system stability concerns.

Last month, Chinese regulators asked big local brokers to halt publication of research endorsing stablecoins in a bid to curb a surge in interest in the digital currency among domestic investors, Reuters has reported, citing sources.

Beijing’s latest move comes even as Hong Kong said in June its Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) are conducting a legal review of RWA tokenisation, drawing on international experience.

The global RWA market is currently worth around $29 billion, according to data provider RWA.xyz. China Merchants Securities, citing industry forecasts, said last month the figure could exceed $2 trillion by 2030.

Washington (AP) — The U.S. said Tuesday it is sanctioning a group of people and firms from Iran, China and Hong Kong associated with the alleged development of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

The network of seven people and six firms “facilitated procurement of sensitive and critical parts and technology for key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile development,” including Iran’s defense ministry and its affiliated firms, according to the Treasury Department.

Among the sanctions targets are the China-based firm Zhejiang Qingji, which has allegedly sold centrifuges and other materials to an Iran-based firm affiliated with the nation’s defense ministry. Also designated for sanctions were several executives at Qingji and the Hong Kong-based Lingoe Process Engineering Limited, which Treasury said served as a front company for the Chinese firm.

Also named is Iran’s Defense Attaché in Beijing, Davoud Damghani, who is alleged to coordinate purchases from China for Iran end-users.

Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them.

The latest round of financial penalties comes as Iran recently claimed that it has created a hypersonic missile capable of traveling at 15 times the speed of sound, adding a new weapon to its arsenal as tensions remain high with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are also high amid months of antigovernment protests in Iran and Western anger at Iran’s export of attack drones to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

Brian E. Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the U.S. “will continue to target illicit transnational procurement networks that covertly support Iran’s ballistic missile production and other military programs.”

Hong Kong (Reuters) – The United Nations said on Monday it was “alarmed” by detentions in Hong Kong linked to the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, while China said the financial hub was moving from “chaos” to prosperity.

Hong Kong police said they detained 23 people on Sunday for “breaching public peace”, and also arrested a 53-year-old woman for “obstructing police officers” on the anniversary of the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests in Beijing in 1989.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Twitter for the release of anyone detained for “exercising freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”.

China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Sunday that “today’s Hong Kong is moving from chaos to stability and prosperity along the right track of “one country, two systems”.

“External forces” including the United States should uphold international law and stop “futile political manipulation” over Hong Kong to contain China, a ministry spokesperson said.

Restrictions on speech and public protests in the administrative region of Hong Kong have stifled what were once mass candlelight vigils marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, leaving cities like Taipei, London, New York and Berlin to keep the memory of June 4 alive.

Hundreds of police conducted stop-and-search operations and deployed armoured vehicles near Victoria Park, the previous site of yearly vigils.

Hong Kong activists say such police action is part of a broader campaign by China to crush dissent in the city that was promised continued freedoms for 50 years under a “one country, two systems” model when former colonial ruler Britain handed it back in 1997.

The United States Consulate posted a photograph on Facebook on Sunday of candles lined up in all of its windows. “In memory” it wrote.

The Canadian consulate said on its Facebook that it joined the people of Hong Kong and others around the world in “remembering the violent crackdown against unarmed and peaceful citizens” on June 4, 1989. It said Canada stood with all those “prevented from upholding their rights, including the right to assemble peacefully.”

Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK said that all 23 people detained on Sunday for breaching peace and public order offences were not arrested and were later released.

Cairo (AP) — A Hong Kong-flagged ship briefly ran aground Thursday in Egypt’s vital Suez Canal, though authorities said they were able to refloat it after it momentarily disrupted the waterway.

The Xin Hai Tong 23 ran aground at the southern mouth of the Suez Canal, the body that oversees the waterway said in a statement. The ship was being towed to another area by three tug boats after an “emergency malfunction,” it said, that caused it to stop sailing.

The Suez Canal Authority said that traffic flow had returned to normal in the canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Leth Agencies, which oversees traffic in the canal, had said that four other vessels were stopped in line behind it after it ran aground.

The ship is a bulk carrier, which typically carries cargo. The ship measures some 190 meters (625 feet) by 32 meters (105 feet).

The Ever Given, a colossal container ship that crashed into a bank on a single-lane stretch of the canal in March 2021, blocking the waterway, was bigger. A massive salvage effort by a flotilla of tugboats, helped by the tides, freed the skyscraper-sized vessel six days later, ending the crisis and allowing hundreds of waiting ships to pass through the canal.

Prosecutors said Alexander Au, 21, and the five others in court Thursday had planned to manufacture explosives and target court buildings. Their plot was foiled due to a police investigation, and no bombs were made and no casualties occurred.

Though the six are not among the most prominent activists in Hong Kong’s suppressed democracy movement, their case has drawn attention because they were all students when the prosecution began in 2021 and they were charged with conspiracy to carry out terrorist activities under the National Security Law.

Earlier this month, Au and four defendants, aged between 17 and 20, pleaded guilty to conspiring to cause explosions that are likely to endanger life and property, an alternative to the terrorism charge that falls under a separate law. The remaining defendant Ho Yu-wang, 19, admitted to the terrorism charge.

Ho was described as one of the plot masterminds. Judge Alex Lee said at Thursday’s sentencing that the plot would have worsened the social situation in Hong Kong had it materialized and could have caused casualties.

Lee sentenced Au to five years and eight months, saying Au was more culpable since he was involved in renting a room in a guesthouse for making explosives and inspecting targeted buildings with Ho.

Three defendants, who were younger than 21 and had relatively minor roles, would be sent to rehabilitation-focused training centers, Lee said. They could be held for up to three years, but the true length of their stays will depend on authorities’ evaluation of their conduct.

The sentencing hearing of Ho and the remaining defendant was postponed to September. The pair only stayed briefly in the court room.

While Lee was handing down the penalties, two of the defendants who stayed slightly shook their heads.

When police raided the guesthouse room in 2021, officers seized equipment believed to be used for making explosives. They also alleged Ho had written in notes that his goal was to destabilize Hong Kong, promote conflicts between the central government and others, then build up a resistance group.

The National Security Law that Beijing imposed on the city after the protests criminalizes acts of succession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. It has led to the arrests of many prominent activists, including activist publisher Jimmy Lai and former student leader Joshua Wong.

Hong Kong (AP) — The first British minister visiting Hong Kong in five years said his country will not “duck” its historic responsibilities to people living in its former colony while engaging with China in areas they share common interests.

The remarks by Dominic Johnson, minister of state in the Department for Business and Trade, were published in an opinion piece in the South China Morning Post on Tuesday. He wrote that the U.K. will be clear about its right to act when China breaks its international commitments or abuses human rights.

Johnson’s trip this week came after relations between Hong Kong and Britain became increasingly tense following the enactment of a Beijing-imposed national security law, which the U.K. earlier called “a clear breach” of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. The declaration included a promise to retain Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms for 50 years after it was returned to China’s rule in 1997.

Following the introduction of the sweeping security law in 2020, 105,200 residents have started new lives in Britain via a special visa that allows them to live and work in the U.K. and apply for British citizenship after six years, according to U.K. official data.

Johnson said his trip included meetings with the city’s leading investors and government officials to foster investment ties between both sides. He tweeted on Monday that he met with CK Hutchison chairman Victor Li, the elder son of tycoon Li Ka-shing, to discuss their investment plans in Britain.

In another tweet, he said he also talked to Christopher Hui, Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and the Treasury, on their works to remove market barriers and increase trade between both sides.

“I’m in Hong Kong as part of my mission to promote the UK as a leading destination for investment and trade,” he wrote on Twitter.

The British consulate in Hong Kong said the visit would allow Johnson to reengage on dialogue including trade and investment, clean growth and future bilateral visits, in addition to promoting collaboration between Hong Kong and the U.K. after the COVID-19 pandemic and the imposition of the security law.

His visit also includes a meeting with Hong Kong Commerce Minister Algernon Yau, a lunch with some members of the British Chamber of Commerce and a visit to local tech hub Cyberport, it added. Johnson is slated to conclude his trip on Tuesday evening.

When asked about Johnson’s visit, Hong Kong leader John Lee said he welcomed any foreign officials to visit Hong Kong and encourage the promotion of economic development, commercial exchanges and people-to-people relationship. Lee said the city’s success is built on regional and international cooperation.

“It’s just some countries make some moves to meet their political interest, perhaps due to political reasons,” he said, without identifying any countries.

He added he hoped all will act pragmatically in their cooperation and policies for development and the benefits of their people.