China has sanctioned a US congressman in the latest step to express its displeasure with US politicians who criticise China’s policies and practices.
The sanction against Representative Jim McGovern, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, is symbolic as the congressman has no assets or business dealings in China.
According to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the sanction includes freezing his assets and properties in China, prohibiting any organisation or individual in China from dealing or working with McGovern, and denying him and his family entry visas.
On social media platform X, McGovern called the sanctions “ridiculous” and said he would wear them “as a badge of honour”: “If (Chinese) leaders don’t like people speaking out against their terrible human rights record, maybe they should improve their terrible human rights record.”
“They can start by ending their repression of Tibetans, ending their genocide in Xinjiang, and ending their repression of democracy in Hong Kong,” McGovern said.
McGovern is the ranking member of the House Rules Committee and co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. McGovern is also a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on China’s human rights record.
US plans ‘draconian’ sanctions against China’s semiconductor industry
