The American expected to serve as national security adviser under the incoming administration of Joe Biden has spoken up about the arrest and jailing of democracy activists in Hong Kong, following stiff punitive action on Jimmy Lai, Joshua Wong and others in recent days.

Jake Sullivan, the national security pick predicted by American media, tweeted on Tuesday: “I’m deeply concerned about the continuing arrests and imprisonment of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.”

He added: “We stand united with our allies and partners against China’s assault on Hong Kong’s freedoms — and to help those persecuted find safe haven.”

Hong Kong is set to be a thorny issue as the Biden administration takes office, with all eyes on whether the United States president-elect will soften his stance on China in a departure from the stridency of his predecessor, sitting President Donald Trump.

A national security law slapped on Hong Kong by the Beijing government in summer this year prompted Trump to declare that Hong Kong had become a place that practiced “one country, one system.” He also signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and an executive order that ended the city’s preferential trade status with Washington.

In August, the Trump administration introduced sanctions against Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, the city’s current and former police chiefs and other senior officials for their roles in the crackdown on the local pro-democracy movement.

Most recently on Monday, a new round of U.S. sanctions and travel bans were imposed on 14 Chinese officials over their alleged involvement in the disqualification of four elected pan-democratic lawmakers in November.

But Beijing has not been letting up, with the imprisonment of young democracy activists Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam last week and the detention of Next Digital founder Lai. The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial that Chinese President Xi Jinping was trying to test the Biden administration on its China stance regarding issues in Hong Kong and other regions.

The newspaper called on Biden to make clear his views as soon as possible, and to win consensus between the Democratic and Republican parties, so as to better position himself to negotiate with China.

A former Hong Kong lawmaker, Lam Cheuk-ting, felt that the two parties in the U.S. were similar in their attitudes toward China, given the current state of affairs in Hong Kong, and did not expect the new White House to have a radical change of stance.

“This is a reflection of American public sentiment,” Lam said.

The U.S. has always reacted strongly to the many years of suppression of Hong Kong and of human rights in Xinjiang.”

The pan-democrat further believed that based on Sullivan’s Twitter post, the U.S. would be inclined to take in Hongkongers who were seeking political asylum, but the extent of its acceptance was as yet unknown.

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