měi guó美国yì yuán议员tí yì提议huá shèng dùn华盛顿tíng zhǐ停止yǔ与běi jīng北京de的jiě mèi姐妹chéng shì城市guān xì关系
Recently, some members of the US Congress proposed a new bill requiring the US capital, Washington, to end its sister city relationship with Beijing, the capital of China.
They believe this can protect the US from foreign influence.
According to this bill, Washington must end sister city relationships with cities considered to be from 'hostile countries' within 180 days.
If this is not done, Washington will not be able to use federal funds for international exchange activities.
The lawmakers said that in the US, people have freedom of speech and assembly, but in China, these freedoms are limited.
They feel that having a sister city relationship with China is inappropriate.
Sister cities are cooperative relationships between two cities aimed at strengthening cultural and business exchanges.
Washington and Beijing have been sister cities since 1984.
Now, some US lawmakers want to end this relationship.