Rightist
2019-11-07 23:21:53 UTC
Trump attacks socialists at home, but in Hong Kong he just sided with
the Communists
CHINESE OFFICIALS and state media were in high dudgeon Monday about
minor acts of vandalism following the latest mass demonstration in Hong
Kong. Protesters who threw eggs at Chinas liaison office and splashed
ink on the state emblem trample on the rule of law, roared a
front-page editorial in the Peoples Daily.
Yet Beijing had little to say about the genuinely shocking incident that
followed: an assault by an organized group of men on people returning
from the demonstration. Journalists, an opposition legislator and
bystanders were among at least 45 people savagely beaten with wooden
canes and metal rods by thugs dressed in white apparently to
distinguish themselves from black-clad protesters. Police were slow to
respond and took no action against the vigilantes.
The high-voltage rhetoric and ugly violence were signs that the regime
of Xi Jinping is shedding restraints in its response to the mass
movement that has emerged in Hong Kong this summer to defend the citys
autonomy and demand greater freedoms. It means that, more than ever,
Hong Kongs people need the support of established democracies.
Unfortunately, President Trump on Monday sided with the dictatorship.
Asked to react to Sundays events, the president explicitly endorsed the
Xi regimes behavior. I think President Xi has reacted very
responsibly, he told reporters. Hes allowed [the protests] to go on
for a long time.
In essence, Mr. Trump all but offered Mr. Xi an invitation to crack down
on a movement that is fighting for liberal values such as free speech
and the rule of law. The protests began in reaction to a proposed
extradition law that would have undermined Hong Kongs independent
courts and allowed China to pursue its enemies in the city. When the
measure was shelved, the marches continued as opposition leaders called
for an investigation of police violence.
At the root of the unrest is resistance to what has been steady
encroachment by China on Hong Kongs autonomy, which is supposed to be
guaranteed until 2047, and frustration at the regimes failure to
deliver on a promise to allow fully democratic elections in the
territory.
As the recently departed U.S. consul general in Hong Kong, Kurt W. Tong,
argued in an op-ed published Monday, the United States has a strong
interest in how the conflict ends. Close to 1,400 U.S. businesses
operating in Hong Kong depend on the preservation of its autonomy.
Chinese leaders, he wrote, need to realize they could destroy Hong
Kongs economic specialness if they keep trying to align its political
culture with mainland norms.
Mr. Trump could have made that point. Instead, he noted that he and Mr.
Xi were working on a trade deal and repeated that the regime had
pledged to buy billions more in U.S. goods. Mr. Tong, whose farewell
speech was reportedly censored by the State Department to remove
language in support of the protesters, wrote in his op-ed that Hong Kong
should not be a token to be exchanged for concessions in trade talks.
As he has now made perfectly clear, Mr. Trump thinks otherwise.
Par for the coursethe Communists
CHINESE OFFICIALS and state media were in high dudgeon Monday about
minor acts of vandalism following the latest mass demonstration in Hong
Kong. Protesters who threw eggs at Chinas liaison office and splashed
ink on the state emblem trample on the rule of law, roared a
front-page editorial in the Peoples Daily.
Yet Beijing had little to say about the genuinely shocking incident that
followed: an assault by an organized group of men on people returning
from the demonstration. Journalists, an opposition legislator and
bystanders were among at least 45 people savagely beaten with wooden
canes and metal rods by thugs dressed in white apparently to
distinguish themselves from black-clad protesters. Police were slow to
respond and took no action against the vigilantes.
The high-voltage rhetoric and ugly violence were signs that the regime
of Xi Jinping is shedding restraints in its response to the mass
movement that has emerged in Hong Kong this summer to defend the citys
autonomy and demand greater freedoms. It means that, more than ever,
Hong Kongs people need the support of established democracies.
Unfortunately, President Trump on Monday sided with the dictatorship.
Asked to react to Sundays events, the president explicitly endorsed the
Xi regimes behavior. I think President Xi has reacted very
responsibly, he told reporters. Hes allowed [the protests] to go on
for a long time.
In essence, Mr. Trump all but offered Mr. Xi an invitation to crack down
on a movement that is fighting for liberal values such as free speech
and the rule of law. The protests began in reaction to a proposed
extradition law that would have undermined Hong Kongs independent
courts and allowed China to pursue its enemies in the city. When the
measure was shelved, the marches continued as opposition leaders called
for an investigation of police violence.
At the root of the unrest is resistance to what has been steady
encroachment by China on Hong Kongs autonomy, which is supposed to be
guaranteed until 2047, and frustration at the regimes failure to
deliver on a promise to allow fully democratic elections in the
territory.
As the recently departed U.S. consul general in Hong Kong, Kurt W. Tong,
argued in an op-ed published Monday, the United States has a strong
interest in how the conflict ends. Close to 1,400 U.S. businesses
operating in Hong Kong depend on the preservation of its autonomy.
Chinese leaders, he wrote, need to realize they could destroy Hong
Kongs economic specialness if they keep trying to align its political
culture with mainland norms.
Mr. Trump could have made that point. Instead, he noted that he and Mr.
Xi were working on a trade deal and repeated that the regime had
pledged to buy billions more in U.S. goods. Mr. Tong, whose farewell
speech was reportedly censored by the State Department to remove
language in support of the protesters, wrote in his op-ed that Hong Kong
should not be a token to be exchanged for concessions in trade talks.
As he has now made perfectly clear, Mr. Trump thinks otherwise.