A United States senator has urged for the immediate expulsion of the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. after Beijing sanctioned 28 Trump administration officials.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration should treat the sanctions as a day-one assault on the independence of its foreign policy, and denounce the intimidation in the strongest possible terms, said Arkansas senator Tom Cotton.

He called upon Biden to respond by sanctioning Chinese officials responsible for the “blackmail campaign.” President Biden should determine whether Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai was involved in these sanctions, and if so, he should be expelled immediately, Cotton said.

Biden should also refuse to nominate any individuals for senior positions who are professionally or financially entangled with China, and who could be compromised by the mere threat of sanctions, he said.

China sanctioned the Trump administration officials on Jan. 20, as Biden’s inauguration was underway. Those included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former trade adviser Peter Navarro, former national security advisors Robert O’Brien and Matt Pottinger, among others.

China has banned them and their families from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, while companies and organizations related to them would be barred from having connections or doing business with China. The new sanctions are the latest example of how that entanglement with China threatens U.S. security and prosperity, Cotton said.

Beijing had been planning to send Yang Jiechi, a member of the Chinese Politburo, to Washington in order to ease tensions, according to the Wall Street Journal. Ambassador Cui also raised the idea through letters to the Biden team and through conversations with intermediaries, the report said. The Chinese embassy in Washington has denied the report.

Beijing is also pressing for a meeting of its top diplomat with senior aides to Biden to explore a summit between the two nations’ leaders, the report said.

Political scholar and Beijing adviser Zheng Yongnian told Chinese media outlet The Paper that although Donald Trump has left the government, his “Trumpism” legacy would stay for a long time, as the U.S. faces splits in terms of class, race and region.

The acting dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science at Chinese University of Hong Kong, Zheng said Trumpism appeared due to changes in the U.S.’ social and economic structure, which would take several generations to resolve.

Biden would still take a strong stance against China in certain issues but would not be as irrational as Trump, Zheng said.

China needs to take advantage of its economic strengths and not to fall into the U.S.’ trap, Zheng concluded.

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