The Biden-Harris administration released a statement on Tuesday opposing a bill that would ban Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials from buying U.S. land if they increase Chinese aggression towards Taiwan, violate Hong Kong’s autonomy, or commit human rights violations toward certain groups in China, such as the Uyghur Muslims.
In a White House press release, the Biden-Harris administration announced, “The Administration opposes H.R. 3334, the ‘STOP CCP Act,’ which would impose mandatory sanctions and visa restrictions on members of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party determined to have played a significant role in certain People’s Republic of China (PRC) policies regarding Hong Kong, Taiwan, and minority groups in China, among others.”
The sanctions proposed by the Stop CCP Act include blocking CCP officials from purchasing land in the United States and blocking CCP officials from obtaining visas and admission into the United States. However, the bill would enable the president to waive sanctions for up to 60 days to allow CCP officials into the country for national security reasons.
While the Biden-Harris administration said it had “deep concerns” regarding multiple PRC policies, it warned that the sanctions suggested by the Stop CCP Act would “cut off any channels of communication between our two governments and undermine the Administration’s efforts to build diplomatic consensus on China, thereby destabilizing US-PRC relations.”
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The proposed STOP CCP Act states that sanctions would be implemented against “members of the National Communist Party Congress of the People’s Republic of China” who engage in “sanctionable conduct.” The bill defines “sanctionable conduct” as playing “a significant role in the development or implementation of government policies or laws” that the president of the United States considers to be in violation of Hong Kong’s autonomy, increased aggression towards Taiwan, or political oppression and violation of human rights.
The bill would allow sanctions to be dropped against CCP officials if the president determined that China has “ceased the genocide of the Uyghur Muslim population,” “ceased all forms of threats, military exercises, and aggression toward Taiwan,” “ceased the undermining of the autonomy of Hong Kong,” and “ceased efforts to steal the intellectual property of United States persons.”
Expressing opposition against the proposed sanction policy, the Biden-Harris administration claimed it is “imperative that flexible sanctions policy be preserved so that the Administration can hold PRC officials accountable as appropriate while responsibly managing the U.S.-PRC relationship to prevent competition from veering into conflict.”
