Hong Kong activist: impose sanctions on China

US president Donald Trump has told China he is preparing to take action over its efforts to impose new national security laws on Hong Kong. A controversial new bill would criminalise insulting the Chinese national anthem - and critics say it would mean the end for freedoms they've previously been guaranteed.

Riot police have fired pepper spray and arrested pro-democracy protesters ahead of the reading of the bill.

Joshua Wong, an activist and Secretary General of @demosisto, says they want the US to impose sanctions in accordance with the Hong Kong Rights and Democracy Act passed by Congress last year.

(Photo: Joshua Wong surrounded by police on a May Day protest. Credit: Getty Images)