Story highlights Marco Rubio and Chris Smith: In recent years, China has increased censorship, restricted personal freedoms, and violated international standards

The Trump administration should develop a policy approach that holds China accountable for such actions, they write

Marco Rubio and Chris Smith, both Republicans, are the Chair and Co-chair respectively of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Marco Rubio is the junior senator from Florida and Chris Smith is the US representative for New Jersey's 4th district. This piece expresses solely the views of the authors and has been adapted in part from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's 2017 report.

(CNN) Next month, President Donald Trump plans to visit Beijing, a trip that will come amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, persistent trade concerns and a raft of other thorny issues in US-China relations.

While the President has sought to build a strong personal relationship with Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping -- in part to yield cooperation on North Korean proliferation -- the administration must develop a long-term policy approach that challenges China to abide by its international commitments, adhere to universal standards and embrace the rule of law.

Sen. Marco Rubio

Rep. Chris Smith

Principled American leadership is needed now more than ever. In recent years, the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China's (CECC) annual reports have found that under President Xi's leadership, China has failed to deliver on long-promised economic reforms and has become more authoritarian domestically. It is also increasingly dismissive of international norms and "Western" ideas, and more assertive in its extraterritorial reach.

Although President Xi has stressed the need for global connectivity and openness, domestic censorship leaves little room for journalism and public debate -- just last week the use of WhatsApp, a popular messaging app, was blocked. As stated in the report, China "continues to strengthen the world's most sophisticated system of internet control and press censorship and forges ahead with what it calls 'internet sovereignty.'"

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