U.S. Senate Votes to Impose Added Sanctions on China

The Senate voted 81 to 10 today to impose additional sanctions on China in response to the Chinese government crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.

The Senate legislation was similar to a measure passed unanimously by the House on June 29 over Administration opposition.

The Senate measure was introduced by Democratic leader George J. Mitchell and Republican leader Bob Dole and attached as an amendment to a bill authorizing operating funds for the State Department. It was adopted after 10 minutes of debate.

Mitchell said it was time for the United States to “speak out more strongly about the continuing abuse of human rights in China.”

He said the legislation would require President Bush to review immediately several U.S.-Chinese commercial and technical programs.

It would also require him to consult with America’s allies on the feasibility of adopting a “collective economic response to recent events in China.”

In Beijing, Chinese authorities, stepping up a campaign against Western influences, today seized foreign newspapers and magazines from bookshops at luxury hotels in the capital.

Managers at 10 five-star hotels said agents of the Central Propaganda Bureau cleared all foreign newspapers and periodicals from the lobby bookshops and told the hotels that they will no longer receive foreign publications.

Last week, authorities ordered deluxe hotels in Beijing to stop receiving satellite transmissions of foreign broadcasts.