The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Tuesday he wanted the Senate to pass legislation to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, as violence rose in the Chinese-ruled city rocked by months of unrest.

Republican Senator Jim Risch noted that he is a co-sponsor and "strong proponent" of the "Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act," which would place Hong Kong's special treatment by the United States under tighter scrutiny.

"We want it moved," Risch said during a discussion on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill in mid-October, drawing accusations from Beijing that the lawmakers had "sinister intentions."

Risch's Foreign Relations committee approved a similar measure in September, but it has not been scheduled for a vote by the full Senate, which must pass the bill before it can be sent to President Donald Trump.