FILE - Ranking Member Jim McGovern, D-Mass., of the the House Rules Committee praises the bipartisan cooperation of House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member, as the panel prepares to advance the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. China sanctioned McGovern, Wednesday, July 31 for “frequently interfering” in China's domestic affairs, in its latest effort to express displeasure with U.S. politicians who have criticized China's policy and practice.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

BANGKOK (AP) — China sanctioned a U.S congressman Wednesday for “frequently interfering” in China's domestic affairs, in its latest effort to express displeasure with U.S. politicians who have criticized China's policy and practice.

Rep. Jim McGovern is the top Democrat on the House Committee on Rules, and he co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. He represents Massachusetts and is a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on China’s human rights record.

The sanctions against him are symbolic, since McGovern has no assets or business dealings in China. The sanctions include freezing his assets and properties in China, prohibiting any organization or individual in China from conducting transactions or working with him, and denying him and his family a visa to enter the country, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

McGovern called the sanctions absurd and said he would wear his “as a badge of honor.”

“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 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.”

Beijing has previously sanctioned a number of U.S. lawmakers, former Trump administration officials, and companies.

It sanctioned Rep. Michael McCaul, also chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and former Rep. Michael Gallagher over their support for Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that China claims as its own. In 2020 it sanctioned Rep. Chris Smith and several U.S. senators, including Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

McGovern and McCaul, along with two senators, last year introduced bicameral legislation calling for stronger U.S. support for Tibet, a region in China where human rights groups have criticized authorities for the treatment of ethnic Tibetans. Congress approved the bill in June, and President Joe Biden signed it into law in July.

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Tang reported from Washington.

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