WASHINGTON (Reuters) – the U.S. State Department and Congress took aim at China on Wednesday, even as President Donald trump cheered ?goodwill? between Washington and Beijing, he said he expects to sign the first phase of a trade agreement with President XI Jinping next month.

While trump touted progress in his devastating trade war with Beijing, state Department officials said Chinese diplomats and officials in the United States would have to give advance notice of meetings with state, local and municipal officials as well as educational and research institutions, calling it a response to how U.S. diplomats are treated in China.

In the Senate, the Republican Chairman of the foreign Affairs Committee said he hoped the full Senate would vote soon on legislation that would tighten control of China’s rule in Hong Kong and require the state Department to at least once a year, whether the territory retains enough autonomy to justify the special treatment it enjoys under U.S. law.

The house of representatives passed a similar law on Tuesday, drawing an angry response from China, which accused U.S. lawmakers of?sinister intentions? to undermine Hong Kong’s stability and warned that bilateral relations would be damaged if the measures – which trump must eventually approve-became law.

The bills have received strong support in Congress, from Democrats as well as trump?s Republican colleagues, in spite of the delicate U.S.-China trade negotiations.

The state Department’s top diplomat for East Asia expressed support for free speech in Hong Kong at a hearing before the Senate foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Wednesday.

? (F) reedoms of expression and peaceful Assembly – core values we share with the people of Hong Kong – must be strongly defended. Do we still call on Beijing to stand by its commitments? said David Stilwell, assistant Secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Trump raised questions about his commitment to protecting freedoms in Hong Kong when he called in August his massive street protests? what is the issue for China to deal with.

He has since urged China to deal with the issue humanely and warned that if something bad happens in Hong Kong, it could be bad for trade negotiations.

PHASE ONE

Trump said Friday that China and the United States have reached the first phase of a trade deal that covers agriculture, currency and some aspects of intellectual property protection, and will ease mutual trade restrictions that the world’s two largest economies have been imposing for 15 months.

Officials on both sides said last week much more work needs to be done before an agreement can be agreed. But trump said Wednesday he will ?probably? sign it with XI at the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation (APEC) Forum in Santiago from November 11 to 17.

? There has been a lot of goodwill between the United States and China over the last period of time,? trump said. ? We’ll probably do a phase 1 signing there, assuming it all gets finished, which we think it will.?

Trump has made China a major target for criticism throughout his presidency. He also stressed that his personal relationship with XI, and his focus on securing a trade deal with Beijing, had raised concerns that he might subordinate human rights issues, including Hong Kong’s welfare, to that end.

Republican Senator Cory Gardner asked Republican Senator Cory Gardner if he thought XI Jinping posed the biggest long-term threat to U.S. security interests.

He said that the si had some work done ?disturbing choice? – including calling himself President without a term – ?that deviated from a system that is becoming more orderly.?

? In a sense, this predictability has brought stability. It becomes less predictable,? he said.

Last year, trump hailed XI as President for life? after China’s ruling Communist party said it was eliminating two terms for the presidency.

Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall