US bill seeks to counter China, Iran repression

DEFINING CRIMES: The bill would define transnational repression in the US as any effort by a foreign agent or proxy to harass, coerce or threaten a person on US soil US lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan bill to increase penalties for foreign government agents who threaten people on US soil, a move aimed at countering the rise of what officials call “transnational repression” by countries such as China and Iran. The bill, put forward by US senators Adam Schiff, a Democrat, and John Curtis, a Republican, comes after China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law went into effect on July 1, establishing what Beijing says is its right to target certain critics beyond its borders. That Chinese measure was a direct factor in the introduction of the Stop Transnational Repression Act,