In retaliation to Beijing’s sanctions against outgoing American officials, top Republicans of the US have urged US President Joe Biden to take tougher action against China.
Michael McCaul, the leading Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Friday tweeted that Beijing had shown its true colours by sanctioning US officials for telling the truth – that the Communist Party was “guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide”.
“I strongly urge the Biden administration to quickly condemn these baseless, impotent sanctions and make good on its early commitments to prioritise strategic competition with the [Communist Party],” he said.
China had announced sanctions against a list of US individuals and their families just minutes after Biden was sworn in on Thursday.
The list included former members of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Health Secretary Alex Azar and Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger.
China’s foreign ministry accused them of “seriously violating China’s sovereignty” and being largely responsible for a “series of crazy moves” in the US policy on China.
“China has pointed out multiple times that these anti-China politicians will pay for their crazy acts,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. “We hope the new US administration will view China and China-US relations in an objective and rational manner.”
Washington had earlier imposed sanctions against Chinese officials and entities over the policies in Xinjiang, as well as on Hong Kong and Chinese officials over Beijing’s political crackdown in Hong Kong.
Jim Risch, head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted on Thursday that in sanctioning 28 national security officials, China’s Communist Party was already testing the Biden administration’s “resolve to continue a tougher, competitive approach towards China”.
“Together, Republicans [and] Democrats must show Beijing we will not be deterred from defending US interests,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Biden’s National Security Council called the Chinese sanctions “unproductive and cynical”, urging Americans from both parties to criticise the move.