'Bill To Sanction China Blocked At Last Minute'

A US senator has reportedly blocked a bill that would have sanctioned individuals, banks and other entities that enable Beijing to breach Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy.

Politico reported that on June 2, Senator Kevin Cramer, a Republican, signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill to punish China for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.

However, he blocked it two weeks later – at the apparent request of the White House.

Politico said the incident was previously not reported, but Cramer confirmed it on Wednesday.

It said the episode underscores the uphill battle for China hawks in Congress as they push the Trump administration to punish Beijing over an array of issues, from Hong Kong to the coronavirus pandemic.

It quoted Cramer as saying that the White House and State Department had proposed "technical" corrections to the bill only a half-hour before Senator Chris Van Hollen 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 was quoted as saying. "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."

Van Hollen told Politico the proposed changes were "significant," but predicted "we may be able to work with" some of them.

"I’m confident we would have an overwhelming bipartisan positive vote on this if it came up. So we're going to keep pushing on it," Van Hollen was quoted as saying.

Van Hollen's bill, which he introduced earlier this year alongside Senator Pat Toomey, would impose mandatory sanctions on individuals, banks and other entities that enable China’s violations of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The Trump administration already has the statutory authority to impose a limited set of sanctions in response to the recent national security law.