A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to the Chinese ambassador to the United States on Monday warning of potential consequences to the country's "violent crackdown on peaceful protesters."

Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who are both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), joined with Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who chairs the Congressional Executive Commission on China, in organizing the letter, which was signed by almost half the Senate.

"We are following the current peaceful protests in China over your government's policies very carefully," the letter reads. "We are also closely watching the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) reaction to them. In 1989, the Chinese Communist Party and People's Liberation Army undertook a violent crackdown on peacefully protesting Chinese students, killing hundreds, if not thousands."

The senators state: "We caution the CCP in the strongest possible terms not to once again undertake a violent crackdown on peaceful Chinese protesters who simply want more freedom. If that happens, we believe there will be grave consequences for the US-China relationship, causing extraordinary damage to it."

"The protests in China are a signal to the world that people will only tolerate authoritarianism for so long before they break," Blackburn said in a statement released with the letter. "While the Chinese people peacefully protest, my colleagues and I are concerned with the Chinese Communist Party's history of suppressing anyone and anything that goes against their goal of total control.

"We stand with the brave freedom fighters in China and warn President Xi and his regime against taking any violent action to squelch this cry for more liberty."

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