China sanctions ex-US lawmaker and supporter of Taiwan

BEIJING: China has banned former US lawmaker Mike Gallagher from entering the country and taken other measures in response to his words and actions that "interfered in China's internal affairs", the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

China will freeze Gallagher's assets in the country and ban organisations and individuals there from trading and cooperating with him, the ministry said.

It did not go into detail on what Gallagher had said or done.

Gallagher, a Republican, has been a fierce critic of China and a strong supporter of Taiwan, a democratically run island Beijing claims as its own.

In February, Gallagher visited Taiwan and met both then-President Tsai Ing-wen and current President Lai Ching-te. He told Tsai the trip was to show bipartisan support for the island and called her "a leader within the free world".

China rebuked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday for congratulating Lai on his inauguration. Lai is regarded by China as a separatist.