Republican senator blocks US bill to punish Beijing over national security law at White House request

Republican senator Kevin Cramer has blocked a United States bill to punish Beijing over Hong Kong national security law at the request of White House, according to Politico.

As a result, the bipartisan bill, which would have imposed 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.

On June 2, Cramer had signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill to punish China for undermining Hong Kong’s independence.

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.

“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.

According to Cramer, the White House and State Department proposed a series of “technical” corrections to the bill only a half-hour before Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) was set to ask for unanimous consent to pass his bill, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.

Cramer defended his decision to block the legislation, saying he hopes the bill eventually passes but that he wanted to try to “accommodate” the Trump administration’s concerns.

“I hadn’t seen it yet. So my concern was, I don’t think we should do a [unanimous consent request] until we have at least considered the technical review,” Cramer said in a brief interview. “I still haven’t seen it. So I don’t know how dramatic the changes were that they were advocating or whether they hate the whole idea.”

Cramer added that the White House “asked me if I would consider” blocking the bill in the meantime, even though Cramer co-sponsored the bill.

The Trump administration already has the statutory authority to impose a limited set of sanctions in response to China’s recent national security law, which significantly encroaches on Hong Kong’s autonomy.

In late May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that Hong Kong, a former British colony, was no longer autonomous from China, a move that comes with significant trade implications.