China issues sanctions against Reagan library, think tank, over Taiwan president visit

China on Friday issued sanctions against the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and a Washington-based think tank in retaliation for providing a public platform to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen during her transit through the U.S. this month.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the sanctions against the institutions and other individuals served as “counter measures” related to Tsai’s “transit” through the U.S.

The sanctions come amid heightened concern that China would carry out military provocations around Taiwan similar to war games it conducted in response to a high-level visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to the island in August. 

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry over recent days has said it is monitoring closely the movements of a Chinese aircraft carrier, naval vessels and Chinese military aircraft that it says are crossing over into Taiwan’s territorial air and seaspace.

Chinese officials had earlier issued public condemnation and warnings against the U.S. for allowing Tsai’s transit and warned of imposing consequences for Tsai meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in Los Angeles at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Wednesday.

“In disregard of China’s repeated representations and firm opposition, the United States allowed Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Taiwan region, to ‘transit’ in the U.S. and engage in political activities,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. 

The Taiwanese leader made public stops in New York last week and Los Angeles this week, which the Taiwanese government and Biden administration carefully described as “transits” to fall in line with the unofficial relations maintained between Washington and Taipei. 

Along with sanctioning the museum, the Chinese government sanctioned its former executive director, John Heubusch, and its current chief administrative officer, Joanne Drake. 

“Ronald Reagan believed passionately in freedom, democracy, and the exchange of ideas, not simply for Americans, but for all people around the globe,” David Trulio, president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, said in a statement to The Hill in response to the sanctions.

“The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is proud of its decision to host a bipartisan meeting between Members of the United States House of Representatives, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan, and her delegation. We will not shy away from living up to President Reagan’s expectation that the library bearing his name be a dynamic intellectual forum.”

With the meeting, McCarthy became the most senior U.S. official to host the Taiwanese leader on American soil. Tsai also met with a bipartisan delegation of House lawmakers in California.

In New York, Tsai also reportedly met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and a group of bipartisan senators. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also issued sanctions against the Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute for hosting Tsai last week in New York, where she was presented with a Global Leadership Award.

Chair of the Hudson Institute Board of Trustees, Sarah May Stern, and John P. Walters, Hudson Institute president and CEO, were also sanctioned by the Chinese.

“We stand firmly with Taiwan and against the [Chinese Communist Party] and its ruthless, genocidal policies,” Walters said in a statement provided by the Hudson Institute. The U.S. has determined that the Chinese government is carrying out a genocide against the Uyghur Muslim population in the northwestern territory of Xinjiang. 

“We were proud to honor Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen last week for her great courage and clear-eyed determination to resist tyranny. The Chinese Communist Party has a long history of attempting to silence voices, domestically and abroad, that oppose its international aggression and its oppression of the Chinese people,” the statement continued.

“It has not worked before and it will not work now. We stand firmly with Taiwan and against the CCP and its ruthless, genocidal policies and we remain steadfast in promoting the security, freedom, and prosperity of America and its allies.”

The sanctions impose visa bans on the blacklisted organizations and individuals, freeze any assets they may have in China and prohibit Chinese citizens from any interactions.

— Updated at 1:27 p.m.