US lawmakers seek tougher penalties for foreign agents threatening people on US soil

U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at countering "transnational repression" by foreign governments. The "Stop Transnational Repression Act" seeks to increase penalties for foreign agents who threaten individuals within the United States. The legislation follows China's recent ethnic unity law, which Beijing states allows it to target critics abroad.

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This is a bipartisan effort to counter a national threat that reports show is only expanding in scope, with new and brazen efforts by countries like China trying to expand its intimidation of those not in lock step with the regime.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff highlighted the bill as a response to expanding threats, noting "brazen efforts by countries like China trying to expand its intimidation of those not in lock step with the regime." Republican Senator John Curtis described transnational repression as an "attack on both our sovereignty and our freedoms." Communities in the U.S. opposing China's Communist Party, along with activists supporting Taiwan, Tibetan, and Uyghur causes, have reported harassment and intimidation from alleged Chinese agents.

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an attack on both our sovereignty and our freedoms.

The bill defines transnational repression to include efforts by foreign states or their proxies to "harass, coerce, or threaten a person, including by force or reasonable fear of death." U.S. lawmakers believe codifying this term will act as a "heightened deterrent for foreign actors." Human rights group Freedom House reports that China is responsible for the majority of documented global cases of such repression since 2014.

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to harass, coerce, or threaten a person, including by force or reasonable fear of death.

This legislative effort comes amid ongoing concerns about foreign interference. In May, a New York man was convicted of acting as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government, accused of operating a secret police station in Manhattan. Separately, two men received lengthy prison sentences for a plot directed by the Iranian government to stalk and kill an Iranian-American activist.

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heightened deterrent for foreign actors