FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to reporters as Senator John Thune (R-SD) listens following a closed Senate Republican policy lunch meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 19, 2020. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday threatened to reexamine the U.S.-Chinese relationship if Beijing pursues a “further crackdown” on Hong Kong, after China was set to impose new national security legislation on the former British colony.
“A further crackdown from Beijing will only intensify the Senate’s interest in reexamining the U.S.-China relationship,” McConnell said in a statement.
Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Sandra Maler