Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Trump signs largely symbolic pre-existing conditions order amid lawsuit MORE (D-Calif.) on Wednesday put her weight behind what she called a "very bipartisan" bill that would require the Trump administration to certify that China is respecting Hong Kong's rights as a semi-autonomous region.

“The legislation says we no longer assume that China is operating under one country, two systems,” Pelosi told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

The legislation to protect the “one country, two systems” relationship that mainland China has with Hong Kong, which was under British control until 1997, comes as massive protests sweep the territory against a bill that would allow criminal suspects to be extradited to China.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam suspended the measure last week after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators flooded the city.

“In recognition of the anxiety and fears caused by the bill in the last few months, if we don’t have confidence from the people we will not proceed with the legislative exercise again,” she reportedly said.

The bill has sparked worries about mainland China’s broadening influence in Hong Kong. When the city was transferred to Chinese rule, a guarantee was made that it would have a legal system independent of Beijing.

Pelosi on Wednesday called the large protests in Hong Kong “a beautiful sight to behold,” adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been “really taking China backward in terms of repression."

She did not say when she would attempt to advance the legislation in the House. A similar measure has been developed in the Senate, Pelosi noted.