The legislation, proposed by Michigan Democratic Representative Sander Levin and Nebraska Republican Representative Doug Bereuter and backed by the White House, would set up a watchdog commission that would review mainland policies and could recommend sanctions against Beijing as long as they were consistent with World Trade Organization rules. The White House sees the proposal as a way of reaching out to Democrats in the House of Representatives who want a forum to air their concerns about human rights and labor abuses in China in exchange for supporting the market-opening pact. Foreign journalists stationed outside China have been blocked from going into the mainland on individual tourist visas, a report said Saturday. The South China Morning Post quoted an unidentified Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman as saying China has stopped issuing the tourist visas to the journalists. Journalists who want to go to China now must join a government-supervised tour group, the spokeswoman said.
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