The State Department said Tuesday that President Obama would veto a bill from Sen. Ted Cruz aimed at pressuring China to improve its human rights practices.
The Senate on Friday passed legislative from Cruz that would rename the plaza in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington after a human rights activist who was jailed by Chinese authorities. It would be named the Liu Xiaobo Plaza, after a doctor of the same name who was imprisoned with his wife.
The bill from Cruz, a GOP presidential contender, is modeled after President Reagan’s effort to rename the street where the Soviet Union’s embassy was located after a Soviet Union activist who was jailed.
But on Tuesday, State said it’s not a fan of Cruz’s effort, and called it counterproductive. Spokesman Mark Toner said the Obama White House has already indicated that Obama would veto the bill.
“We continue to impress upon China the imperative of respecting human rights and releasing Liu Xiaobo, and releasing other prisoners,” Toner told reporters. “But we do not believe Sen. Cruz’s tactic to rename a street in Washington, D.C., is a very effective way to achieve either goal.”
“We view this kind of legislative action as something that only complicates our efforts,” he said.
“So, we oppose this approach,” Toner added. “It’s our desire to work more productively and cooperatively with Congress on ways to address our shared goal of improving human rights in China.”
On Friday, Cruz celebrated the Senate’s unanimous passage of his bill, and said Reagan never worried about upsetting the Soviets the way today’s State Department seems to worry about how China might react.
“I am grateful to my colleagues for passing this legislation today, for standing with Dr. and Mrs. Liu and for standing and speaking for truth and for freedom,” he said.
