Politico | US bill to punish Beijing over Hong Kong national security law blocked by Republican senator at White House request
- North Dakota’s Kevin Cramer is holding up bill he co-sponsored to punish Beijing for undermining Hong Kong’s independence
- Last-minute change was to allow administration push for changes to Hong Kong Autonomy Act
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Andrew Desiderio on politico.com on June 24, 2020.
On June 2, Senator Kevin Cramer signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill to punish China for undermining Hong Kong’s independence. Two weeks later, he turned around and blocked it – at the request of the White House.
As a result, the bipartisan bill, which imposes mandatory sanctions over China’s continued incursions into Hong Kong’s internal affairs, is stalled on Capitol Hill even as it has broad bipartisan support.
The episode, which had not been previously reported, underscores the uphill battle for Congress’ China hawks as they push the Trump administration to punish Beijing over an array of issues, from Hong Kong to the coronavirus pandemic.
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“Even for us, this is dysfunctional,” Cramer acknowledged on Wednesday, a week after he objected to the bill’s unanimous passage on the Senate floor, after a last-minute plea from the Trump administration.