A top aide to the Hong Kong government and Beijing loyalist Regina Ip is divesting all of her assets in the United States amid the looming possibility that she may be sanctioned by Washington.

The pro-Beijing lawmaker and executive councilor believed that the U.S. would not impose sanctions on her in the near future due to a lack of legal reasons, Ip told TVB’s Straight Talk show on Tuesday.

But as a precaution, she was divesting all of her U.S. assets now, Ip said. “I used to love living in that country,” she said. “But the U.S. has changed unfortunately. There is a lot of hostility toward China,” she said.

Ip said she would not miss being able to travel to the U.S. if she was sanctioned. “I won’t miss it. And it’s unsafe because of [COVID-19] and all the race tension,” she added.

Many Hongkongers have listed Ip as one of the officials they believe the U.S. should sanction, who they say is supporting Beijing’s efforts in intruding Hong Kong’s civil rights.

Ip, who also chairs the pro-Beijing New People’s Party, was a notable supporter of the national security law enacted by Beijing in Hong Kong. Before the controversial law was passed on June 30, she repeatedly voiced support for the legislation and described it as an effort to “protect the majority of Hong Kong.”

The former security minister who resigned from government after mass protests took place to oppose a proposed anti-subversion bill in 2003, also repeatedly denounced anti-government protests which began last June against the now-shelved extradition law, calling them a “major threat” to national security.

Ip on Tuesday distanced herself from any involvement in Beijing’s enactment of the national security law, saying her role was only an advisor to Chief Executive Carrie Lam. “[As executive councilors,] we are only advisors. We are not involved in making the law. It’s a mainland law. We are not involved in enforcement,” she said.

Ip believed that merely supporting the national security law would not make her an immediate target of U.S. sanctions. But she and other Hong Kong lawmakers could be sanctioned if they voted to pass an anti-subversion law under Article 23 of the Basic Law in the future, Ip said.

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