Hong Kong court decisions this week to hold Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai in months of detention before trial and to jail three young democracy leaders of the city are reverberating around American political circles, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo describing the latest developments as political persecution.

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee also weighed in, blasting the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities for manipulating the judicial system to muzzle peaceful voices of dissension.

Pompeo said on his official Twitter account that “the United States is appalled by the Hong Kong government’s political persecution of Jimmy Lai, Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam. Their struggle to resist the CCP’s denial of their fundamental rights will stand throughout history as testaments to the human spirit.”

Rick Scott, a Republican senator from Florida who visited Hong Kong during anti-extradition bill protests last year, showed his concern as well. He called Communist China’s attempts “pathetic” in trying to intimidate anyone who spoke up against the regime and its human rights violations.

“Jimmy Lai, Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, & Ivan Lam are the faces of true bravery & the US MUST and WILL continue to fight alongside them,” Scott tweeted.

Fellow Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who had also been keeping a close watch on the city’s situation, criticized the Chinese government for “trying to silence opposition in Hong Kong.”

Cruz added: “I stand with Jimmy Lai & Joshua Wong for shining the light of truth on China’s tyranny.”

Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was outraged by the sentencing of the young democracy leaders and the denial of bail to Lai.

“These are clear attempts by the Chinese & HKSAR gov’t to silence dissent by weaponizing Hong Kong’s judicial system, for which independence is under siege,” Engel said on the official Twitter account.

“Despite Xi Jinping’s attempts to crush Hong Kong’s autonomy, I have faith in Hong Kong’s resilience,” he continued, stressing that the U.S. stood with the people of Hong Kong.

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