42 U.S. senators sent a letter to China... "Damage of relations between the two countries during the suppression of protests and violence"

▲ Protest against China's COVID-19 quarantine policy

U.S. senators have warned that US-China relations will be damaged if the Chinese government violently suppresses protests against the country's COVID-19 quarantine policy.

According to the political media The Hill, 42 opposition senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Todd Young, Dan Sullivan, and Jeff Merkly, sent a letter containing this warning to Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qinjiang on the 1st local time.

"We are watching very closely the current peaceful protests regarding the policy of the Chinese government," the lawmakers said in a letter.

Lawmakers compared the current situation to the 1989 Tiananmen incident, saying, "In 1989, the Chinese Communist Party and People's Army violently suppressed Chinese students protesting peacefully, killing hundreds. They may have killed thousands."

"I warn in the strongest terms that the CCP will not again violently suppress Chinese people who protest peacefully just because they want more freedom," he said.

"If that happens, I think there will be serious consequences that will massively undermine US-China relations," he warned.

The letter used stronger language than the positions put forward by Joe Biden administration officials so far.

The Biden administration supported peaceful protests and stated that China's containment policy was unrealistic.

The Hill analyzed that the Biden administration is approaching cautiously to avoid giving the Chinese government an excuse to claim that 'foreign forces are encouraging protests'.

"We believe that no form of government, whether democratic or authoritarian, should coerce, intimidate, undermine, or interfere with the people's right to protest peacefully," said White House Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby. said.