China sanctions US Congressman Jim McGovern
By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 1 August: US congressman Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, tweeted on X in response to China’s imposed sanction on him that he would wear it “as a badge of honour”.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday announced its imposition of sanctions on US lawmaker Jim McGovern for “frequently interfering” in what China claims as its “internal affairs”. Beijing alleged that McGovern’s “frequent words and deeds” have “undermined its sovereignty, security and development interests.”
McGovern, a prominent voice for Human Rights and a strong supporter of the Tibetans responded by calling Beijing’s act “absurd” and said he would wear it “as a badge of honour.”
The sanction against him prohibits “all organizations and individuals within China from engaging in transactions, cooperation and other activities with him.” Moreover, it bans “him and his family” from entering China and allows the freezing of his assets and properties in China, which McGovern has none, as the Associated Press reported today.
“If (Chinese) leaders don’t like it when people speak out against their horrific human rights record, maybe they should improve their horrific human rights record,” McGovern wrote on the X (formerly Twitter)social media platform.
“They can start by ending their oppression of Tibetans, ending their genocide in Xinjiang, and ending their crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong,” he added.
McGovern is one of four US senators who introduced a bill called the “Tibet Resolve Act” last year. The bill, marked as a milestone in the Tibetan Freedom struggle and supported by both Republicans and Democrats in US Congress, was signed into law by President Joe Biden on 12 July. Rep. Michael McCaul, one of the bill’s sponsors has already been sanctioned by China.
Days prior to Biden’s signing of the “Tibet Resolve Act,” Rep. Jim McGovern, along with House Foreign Affairs Committee chairperson Michael McCaul and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, met the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, the home of the Tibetan exiled government in India.
