China announced sanctions against U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her landmark trip to Taiwan this week, making her the highest-ranking American official designated for penalties by Beijing.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced the unspecified sanctions against Pelosi and her immediate family members as she departed from Japan late Friday. Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing that tensions over Taiwan this week had been "entirely caused by Speaker Pelosi and U.S. politicians.”
China didn’t specify what the sanctions entailed, but previous measures have restricted individuals from entering China, Hong Kong or Macao, or doing business there. Such curbs are likely to be largely symbolic for Pelosi.