Trump said he would review the legislation that empowers him to sanction China. (FILE)
Washington:
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would "certainly" review recently enacted laws that empower him to sanction China if it doesn't cooperate and provide a full account of the events that led to the outbreak of the corona virus.
"I respect US Senator Lindsey Graham and I will definitely look at it. I will definitely look at the Chinese sanction bill. I have not seen it yet," Trump told reporters at a White House event on Wednesday .
On Tuesday, several Republican senators, including Graham, had introduced laws that would allow the U.S. President to sanction China if it didn't cooperate and provide a full account of the events that led to the outbreak of the corona virus.
China vigorously protested the Beijing Sanctions Law over the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday.
"This act, sponsored by several US lawmakers, shows no respect for facts. By pushing for investigations based on the presumption of guilt, it is intended to avoid responsibility for the US response to China. This is highly immoral. We are decided against it, "said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.
US senators said in a statement on Tuesday, "Without certification, the president would have the power to impose a number of sanctions, such as asset freezes, travel bans, visa withdrawals, that prevent US financial institutions from granting loans awarded or subscribed to Chinese companies prohibiting Chinese companies from listing on the American stock exchange. "
According to Johns Hopkins University, there are at least 1,390,746 COVID-19 cases in the United States, and over 83,000 people have died of the infection.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and published from a syndicated feed.)
