China Sanctions Republican Lawmaker McCaul After Taiwan Visit

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(Bloomberg) -- China is banning US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul from entering the country, along with other countermeasures, after the politician’s recent visit to Taiwan.

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The government is freezing any property or other assets McCaul, a Texas Republican Representative, may have in China and banning Chinese nationals and organizations from transacting with him, according to a statement from its foreign ministry Thursday. His visit to Taiwan earlier this month and previous comments and actions interfere with Chinese internal affairs, the ministry said.

McCaul called the move a “badge of honor.”

“Nothing will deter the United States from supporting free, democratic nations — including Taiwan,” he said in a statement.

McCaul led a bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers on a visit to Taiwan. While meeting Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, the US politician compared Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Adolf Hitler.

US Lawmaker Compares Xi to Hitler in Meeting With Taiwan’s VP

“Michael McCaul has frequently interfered in China’s internal affairs and harmed China’s interests in recent years,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in the statement. His delegation’s visit to Taiwan has damaged China’s sovereignty and “seriously violated the one China principle and the provisions of the three joint communiques of China and the US.”

--With assistance from Chunying Zhang.

(Updates with McCaul statement in third and fourth paragraphs)

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