Passes China sanctions bill

Senate passes China sanctions bill after White House relents

A bipartisan agreement was reached to target those who curb Hong Kong's independence.

By ANDREW DESIDERIO

The Senate on Thursday passed a sweeping sanctions bill targeting China’s violations of Hong Kong’s independence, a week after the White House helped stall the legislation.

The bill, which imposes mandatory sanctions on individuals, entities and banks that enable China’s encroachments through a new national security law, was adopted unanimously after Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) secured an agreement with the White House. The senators also allowed for their measure to pass alongside a resolution by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) condemning Beijing’s national security law that cracks down on Hong Kong’s sovereignty.

Last week, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) blocked the sanctions legislation at the behest of the Trump administration, even though he co-sponsored the bill. At the time, the White House had proposed what senators described as last-minute “technical” changes.

“They were able to reach some accommodation with the Treasury, and so the White House apparently didn’t object,” Hawley said in a brief interview after his resolution and the sanctions bill were adopted unanimously.

According to an aide, Van Hollen and Toomey amended their bill slightly after the White House proposed its changes, which were minor and did not appear to weaken the legislation.

Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) have introduced a companion bill in the House.

The breakthrough came as lawmakers of both parties have pushed President Donald Trump to respond more aggressively to an array of actions taken by China in recent months, from its handling of the coronavirus pandemic to alleged human-rights abuses targeting religious minorities in the country’s Xinjiang region.

“It starts with Hong Kong, but we know what Beijing wants to do. They want to impose their will on the whole Asia-Pacific region,” Hawley said, adding that he has told the president directly that the U.S. should use “all tools at our disposal to send a message” to China.

Despite Thursday’s agreement, there is no guarantee that the sanctions will be fully implemented. The Trump administration has declined to implement several mandatory sanctions over the years, including ones targeting Russia for its interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Last week, Trump signed a bill that requires his administration to name potential targets of sanctions over China’s continued detention of Uighur Muslims, a religious minority; but in an accompanying signing statement, the president said he would treat a key provision as “advisory and non-binding.”

Trump also acknowledged in an interview last week that he initially declined to implement certain sanctions against China over its detention of Uighurs, in order to salvage his trade deal with the country — a move that could boost his reelection bid.