Hong Kong's newly appointed police commissioner, Joe Chow, pledged to intensify efforts to safeguard the city’s national security, despite recent sanctions imposed by the United States on Chinese and Hong Kong officials.

Chow, speaking after the announcement of the US sanctions this week, dismissed their impact, stating they underscored the success of Hong Kong's national security measures.

The US sanctions targeted six senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials, accusing them of "transnational repression" and further undermining Hong Kong's autonomy. The sanctions marked the Trump administration's first major move to penalise China over its extended crackdown on Hong Kong under sweeping national security laws.

Chow, who succeeded Raymond Siu as Hong Kong’s police commissioner, responded to the sanctions by labelling them "barbaric," adding that they demonstrated the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s national security operations.

"This means we should do even more," Chow told reporters. "This should not be a question of whether I should be worried about being sanctioned, but how to do better and more," he stated.

In response to the growing concerns surrounding Hong Kong’s national security laws, which China had imposed in 2020 following mass pro-democracy protests, Chow acknowledged the stability brought by these laws.

However, he also noted that "pockets of soft resistance" remained, specifically among individuals attempting to incite unrest through media, culture, and art sectors. These areas, Chow indicated, would receive focused attention from the police.

Chow, who replaced Raymond Siu—a target of the US sanctions—declined to comment on whether further bounties would be issued on activists in the future, following Siu’s controversial decision to place HK$1 million bounties on 19 overseas Hong Kong activists.