Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will not flinch from any sanctions by the US and will actively cooperate with the central government on any counterattacks if necessary.

Lam was responding to US sanctions to revoke Hong Kong’s special trade status, announced by the US Department of Commerce.

From now on, Hong Kong would be required to apply for an export license should it wish to buy certain types of civilian-military dual use technologies.

Lam said the impact of the sanctions, though still under evaluation, would be little, as alternatives could be found for these technologies.

Lam said the special administrative region government has been evaluating the impact of sanctions for some time, as some people in Hong Kong have constantly begged for sanctions.

And it doesn’t mean that Hong Kong can’t buy them; the sanctions only make the purchasing more inconvenient, she added.

In fact, Hong Kong has little manufacturing, with most facilities already relocated to the Chinese mainland, where such restrictions are already in place, she added.

She stressed that the US has enjoyed a trade surplus as high as an average of $30 billion every year with Hong Kong, the highest among its trade partners.