China’s imposition of Hong Kong’s national security law amid international opposition has sent shock waves to the world. US Secretary of States Pompeo slammed Beijing for breaking its commitment to Hong Kong people, shortly after its parliament passed the controversial legislation unanimously on Tuesday.

“If China wants to regain the trust of Hong Kongers and the international community, it should honor the promises it made to the Hong Kong people and to the United Kingdom in the U.N.-registered 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,” Pompeo said in an official statement by the State Department.

Pompeo also responded on Twitter to Beijing’s tit-for-tat visa restrictions on Washington, after Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian announced on Tuesday that certain Americans with "egregious conduct relating to Hong Kong" would be barred from entering China.

“The Chinese Communist Party's threats to restrict visas for U.S. citizens is the latest example of Beijing’s refusal to accept responsibility for breaking its commitment to the people of Hong Kong. We will not be deterred from taking action to respond,” Pompeo tweeted.

Pompeo’s responses came just hours after the United States began stripping Hong Kong’s special trade status and halting the export of sensitive military equipment and technology to the territory. Both Pompeo and commerce secretary Wilbur Ross warned of additional measures to come.

“Xi Jinping and his Communist thugs must face severe consequences for crushing Hong Kong's freedoms. The administration should consider all options to deny Beijing the benefits of Hong Kong's special financial & economic status,” US senator Tom Cotton wrote on Twitter.

Taiwan and Japan also voiced against Beijing’s move. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen strongly condemned the new legislation and called it a proof of how infeasible the One Country, Two Systems model was. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga found the passage of the law "regrettable", adding Japan would “continue to work with the countries involved to deal with this issue appropriately.”

All eyes on Hong Kong now as China’s approval of its national security law quickly made headlines on international media, including CNN, BBC, New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, and NHK.

CNN and BBC highlighted growing fears for overriding existing legal processes as well as for further erosion of the city's civil and political freedoms. The Guardian cited critics in its subheading, saying “the measure, which criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, erodes Hong Kong’s autonomy.”

Chinese officials will hold on Wednesday a media briefing in Beijing regarding Hong Kong’s national security law, according to the State Council Information Office on Tuesday.

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