Foreign Affairs

Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Martha McSally (R-Arz.) announced they have cosponsored Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) resolution calling for an international investigation into the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) cover-up of the early spread of COVID-19. The resolution calls on China to pay damages for its criminal conduct to the United States and other nations impacted by the pandemic.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is working with the State Department to facilitate the swift and safe repatriation of dozens of Missourians stranded internationally in the midst of COVID-19 travel restrictions. He is in contact with Missouri families and groups of travelers — including a church group — currently stranded in Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Peru. Senator Hawley said, “We have been in contact with these Missourians, many of whom were trying to help and spread the gospel on a mission trip. My staff and I continue to do everything we can to bring them home immediately.”

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) joined Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Congressman Jim Banks (R-Indiana) yesterday in sending a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr requesting the Department of Justice investigate a Chinese Communist Party-owned propaganda outlet, China Daily, for repeated violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Senator Hawley wrote, “The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 articulates the United States’ commitment to promoting commercial and cultural ties with the people of Taiwan. It likewise enshrines our nation’s commitment to guaranteeing Taiwan’s ability to protect itself from attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its will upon Taiwan. I believe firmly in the principles espoused in that document, and I strongly support Taiwan’s efforts to promote freedom, democracy, and human rights, both at home and abroad.”

On the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) today sent a letter with his colleagues to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, urging him to raise the issue of China’s violations of human rights and its destruction of its documentary record in both his discussions with member states and at the U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N. Security Council. Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Todd Young (R-Ind.) also signed onto the letter.

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) are urging the International Olympic Committee to implement its Host City Contract requirements in time for the Beijing Games instead of the current timeline of 2024. The new guidelines, among other requirements, hold host cities to international human rights norms and standards.

“Hong Kongers have put their lives on the line fighting for the basic freedoms promised them by Beijing. President Trump‘s decision to sign the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act honors their courage and aids their cause. And it sends a clear signal to Beijing: the United States will not stand by and watch China break its treaty commitments and try to dominate all of Asia.”

Senator Hawley writes, “For five months, Beijing and its proxy chief executive in Hong Kong have been attempting to alter the city’s status and restrict its citizens’ freedoms, in apparent violation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law and the 1984 Joint Declaration. The Hong Kong executive has authorized violent force against unarmed demonstrators, has radically restricted the right of citizens peaceably to assemble, has intervened in District Council candidate selection, has illegally banned the use of face masks, and repeatedly laid siege to Hong Kong universities.”

Following the heightened violence at Polytechnic University in Hong Kong over the weekend, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) today suggested that China may be in violation of the 1984 Sino–British Joint Declaration. According to BBC, “around 100 people tried to leave the Polytechnic University, but were met with tear gas and rubber bullets.” The Washington Post reported that Chinese President Xi Xingping recently urged Hong Kong authorities to take “firmer action” to end the protests.

Ours must be a foreign policy for the people who built this country; one that honors our workers by protecting their livelihoods; protects our way of life by thwarting hegemons; and respects our service-members by asking them to sacrifice only for a justified purpose and only with a reasonable plan.