Republican House Members Want Sanctions Against Certain Chinese Communist Party Members

A bill called the Countering Chinese Propaganda Act, introduced by a half-dozen Republicans in the House and by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in the Senate, would require the executive branch to impose sanctions on anyone who “knowingly commits a significant act of malign dis­in­for­ma­tion on behalf of the government of a foreign country or foreign political party that has the direct purpose or effect of influencing political, diplomatic, or educational activities in the United States,” when that disinformation either harms U.S. national security or the safety of any citizen or green card holder. According to the bill, the Treasury Department already sanctioned the head of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, You Quan, for his role in the crackdown in Hong Kong. The United Front Work Department is the primary target of the bill, one of the co-introducers, Rep. Jim Banks, D-Ind., said.