Hong Kong Protesters Call for U.S. Help.

The United States, viewed as a champion of democracy, occupies a symbolic role in the protests. Activists now want President Trump to take a tougher stand against Beijing.
By Edward Wong

Protesters rallying last month in Hong Kong.

HONG KONG — The Hong Kong protests at times seem like love fests with the United States. Depending on the day, demonstrators wave American flags or Uncle Sam recruitment posters, and even dress as Captain America, complete with shield.
The United States represents democracy, and the activists hope that maybe, just maybe, it will save Hong Kong. 

Five months in, they are trying harder than ever to draw the United States into their movement.
The protesters are pressing Hong Kong officials and their overseers, the authoritarian Communist Party leaders of China, for greater democratic rights and rule-of-law in the autonomous territory. 

As they see it, the Trump administration might be able to make demands of Chinese leaders or Hong Kong officials, especially because members of elite political circles want to maintain access to the United States.
Also, they note, the trade war with China, started by President Trump, is adding pressure over all on Xi Jinping.
For the American government, the protests are more complicated — a potential policy dilemma but also a potential point of leverage with Beijing and a way to channel American values to the rest of the world.
“The United States should continue to deter Beijing from use of force, maintain an unblinking eye on Hong Kong, and make Beijing pay a heavy reputational cost for curtailing the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens,” said Ryan Hass, a former State Department and National Security Council official now at the Brookings Institution.
Yet, he added, “I worry that the protesters in Hong Kong risk misinterpreting American sympathy and support of their cause for expectation that the United States will shield them from Beijing’s heavy hand.”
Hong Kong protesters see the United States as a potential savior in their quest for greater democratic rights.

If the protesters are sending out a siren song, some American officials and lawmakers are answering it, eager to show their commitment to the cause.
Members of Congress have appeared in Hong Kong in public displays of solidarity. 

Last month, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, donned an all-black outfit, while Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, posted photographs from a protest.
In Washington, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, has met with activists, pro-democracy politicians and Jimmy Lai, a publisher considered radioactive by Beijing. 

Vice President Mike Pence singled out Hong Kong as a beacon of liberty in a speech, saying, “We stand with you; we are inspired by you.”
And versions of a bill that would give support to the protesters are moving though Congress with bipartisan backing. 

The legislation, among other things, would allow the United States to impose economic sanctions and a travel ban on Hong Kong officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses.
“We hope this bill will pass,” said Selina Po, a 27-year-old protester wearing a mouth mask in the Admiralty neighborhood as she held up a sign with the bill’s name, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. 

“It’s our hope for winning this war. We’re trying all we can.”

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, with Hong Kong activists at a news conference in September.

Greater involvement by Americans could give Beijing more ammunition in its propaganda effort to portray the pro-democracy movement as one stoked by foreign forces.
The Chinese government and state-run news organizations talk about “black hands” behind the unrest and spread conspiracy theories, including one centered on an American diplomat in Hong Kong who was photographed with activists in the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel.
As the protests persist, American officials are watching for surges in violence and tracking the movement of People’s Liberation Army soldiers into Hong Kong. 

Some are beseeching demonstrators to stick to nonviolent tactics, even in the face of police crackdowns and attacks by people sympathetic to Beijing.
On Sunday, at least six people were injured when a man with a knife who is believed to be against the democracy movement attacked a family at a shopping mall. 

In the melee, the attacker bit off part of the ear of a pro-democracy district council member, Andrew Chiu.

Two Democratic Congressmen, Tom Suozzi of New York and John Lewis of Georgia, the icon of the American civil rights movement, posted a video last month praising the activists for their “great work” and urging them to stick to nonviolence.
Whether the United States takes greater action on Hong Kong hinges on the unpredictable Trump. 

Administration officials and American lawmakers talk openly about checking the authoritarian impulses of the Chinese Communist Party. 

But Trump rarely, if ever, mentions human rights and democracy, and he has not made strong statements on Hong Kong.

In June, he told Xi Jinping on a call that he would stay quiet on Hong Kong as long as Washington and Beijing were making progress on trade talks, according to an American official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
In October, the Trump administration imposed some restrictions on Chinese companies and organizations for their roles in the mass repression of Muslims in mainland China, but Trump has held back from harsher actions for fear of upsetting the trade negotiations.
If a Hong Kong bill reaches Trump’s desk, analysts say, he might see it as merely a tool to wring concessions from China and could forego support if a trade agreement were close.
“Strong American bipartisan support for the peaceful protesters is not enough to override Trump’s transactional instincts,” Mr. Hass said. 

“He does not look at Hong Kong through a values-based lens. And as long as he remains president, this outlook will limit America’s responses to developments in Hong Kong.”
Administration officials argue that Trump’s approach gives the United States a stronger hand in constraining Beijing on Hong Kong — even if it appears that Trump just wants to use the Chinese territory to his advantage.
“America expects Beijing to honor its commitments,” Mr. Pence said, “and President Trump has repeatedly made it clear it would be much harder for us to make a trade deal if the authorities resort to the use of violence against protesters in Hong Kong.”
In the eyes of Beijing, there has been no shortage of "provocations" by American politicians. 

On Oct. 22, Ms. Pelosi posted on Twitter a photograph of herself on Capitol Hill with three pro-democracy figures — Mr. Lai, Martin Lee and Janet Pang.
“My full support and admiration goes to those who have taken to the streets week after week in nonviolent protest to fight for democracy and the rule of law in #HongKong,” she wrote.


Nancy Pelosi
✔@SpeakerPelosi
So pleased to welcome Jimmy Lai, Martin Lee and Janet Pang to the U.S. Capitol. My full support and admiration goes to those who have taken to the streets week after week in non-violent protest to fight for democracy and the rule of law in #HongKong.

12.2K
12:04 AM - Oct 23, 2019

On Wednesday, Ms Pelosi slammed the decision by Hong Kong officials to bar the activist Joshua Wong from running in local elections. 

She said it was “another blow against rule of law in Hong Kong and the principle of ‘one country, two systems,’” referring to the foundation for the policy of autonomy that Britain and China agreed would be used to govern the territory.
Ms. Pelosi met Mr. Wong in Washington in September.

Many demonstrators want American intervention and are focusing their attention on the legislation. The mere threat of American sanctions, they say, would give the movement greater voice with Beijing.
On Oct. 14, the night before a vote on the bill in the House of Representatives, protesters held a rally in the Central district to call for its passage. 

Tens of thousands attended, many of them carrying American flags.

American flags have become commonplace at the protests. 

“The power of Hong Kong people alone is limited, and we need other countries, such as the U.S., to help us counter China and keep ‘one country, two systems,’” said Eric Kwan, 32. 

“I doubt the act can be an ultimate game-changer, but I think it is enough to give pressure to China.”
Along with allowing for sanctions, the legislation requires the State Department to review each year whether Hong Kong is still autonomous enough to qualify for the benefits of the 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act, which grants the city a trade and economic status different from that of mainland China.
Some American officials say the bill could harm Hong Kong residents if the United States determines that the territory no longer qualifies as an autonomous entity. 

But the bill’s proponents defend its practical and symbolic value.
“Standing in support of Hong Kongers and preserving Hong Kong’s autonomy should be a priority of the United States and democracies worldwide,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida.
The bill passed the House by unanimous vote last month. 

Though the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has not scheduled a vote yet, the measure is expected to pass that chamber easily, with a veto-proof majority. 

Then Trump would have to decide whether to sign it into law.

Be Brave. Be Water. Be Ready: Three Days Among The Freedom Protesters In Hong Kong

When a fourth of your population demands something, there is a serious consequence when nothing happens — when millions of law-abiding people feel their autonomy is at risk.
By Ben Domenech

On a gray, humid day in June, a 35-year-old man named Marco Leung climbed atop a platform on elevated scaffolding outside the ritzy complex known as Pacific Place in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong, and announced he was tired of being ignored.

He wore a bright yellow raincoat festooned with slogans — in the days to come, Hong Kong protesters would brand him “Raincoat Man” — and he unfurled a lengthy sign saying in English and Chinese: “No extradition to China, total withdrawal of the extradition bill, we are not rioters, release the students and injured, Carrie Lam step down, help Hong Kong.”
In the hours to come, police and firefighters would swarm the area. 

Negotiators attempted to convince him to come down, but he refused. 

Firefighters ended up confronting Leung, who, after climbing away from them outside the railings, fell about 60 feet to his death, missing an inflated police cushion. 

It was branded a suicide, the first of eight since the Hong Kong protests began, though the macabre footage doesn’t really bear that out.
Leung was no radical, at least until recently. 

He had previously indicated support of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, an establishment group, and backed establishment candidates on social media as recently as 2016. 

He backed Wong Kwok-hing, among others, who lost his seat to the more aggressively pro-democracy Roy Kwong — a Democracy Party legislator who was at Leung’s protest that day, urging him to come down safely. 

The police declined to let Kwong participate — so he crossed the road and used a loudspeaker instead, ultimately to no avail.


Ray Chan
✔@ray_slowbeat
My colleague Roy Kwong has done his best to prevent tragedies & abuses. As butcher Carrie Lam's regime remains in power, sad events including the loss of life are bound to happen. This Gov't and its enablers must be made accountable for their fascist politics. #HongKongProtests

211
5:22 PM - Jun 15, 2019 · Hong Kong

After his death, Leung’s parents spoke out through a friend, urging on the young people of Hong Kong.
“Every brave citizen who takes to the street is doing so because they love Hong Kong deeply. Only by protecting themselves and staying alive can young people continue to speak up bravely against social injustices.”
The location Leung chose indicates the way the Hong Kong protesters cut across lines of culture and class.
While a “V for Vendetta” slogan is spray-painted a stone’s throw from where he hit the ground — “People shouldn’t be afraid of their government, governments should be afraid of their people” — this is no class uprising.
It is instead a broad cross-section of Hong Kong’s 7 million citizens who are joining in: blue and white collar, those of wealth and middle class, sons and daughters delaying their college education to join in.
At the luxuriant lounge in the JW Marriott, housed within the Pacific Place complex, about a hundred American dollars buys entry to a buffet of endless caviar, seared foie gras, lobster thermidor, fresh langoustines, mussels, crab legs, shrimp dumplings, lamb pops, roasted beef and pork, roasted squab, sushi, fruits and cheeses of all manner, four kinds of aged ham, three kinds of smoked salmon, bespoke Asian noodle dishes, and bottomless wine and champagne.
The tourists are mostly from the mainland: The men wear “Avengers” T-shirts and drawstring shorts with Nikes, while the women dress in shimmering summer blouses and flowing skirts with ankle boots.
Upper-middle-class people gorge while the middle class goes for an esteemed mother’s birthday.
She loves her gift of Italian perfume from the mega complex beneath us, five floors of an adult playground of shopping and excess that rivals any high-end American mega mall.
All the brands are there, though a group of college-aged girls express disappointed sounds outside the Celine store that is not yet open.
The doors are where you notice it first.
The heavy metal door hangings are bound in multiple ways, M-shaped locks paired with chains and padlocks, plus sandbags and interlocked metal barriers at other entrances.
It creates mazes where shoppers have to backtrack and ride the same escalator twice.
When you do the circuit, it’s easy to spot the choke points.
That’s where you’ll find men in suits who look tired and hold radios or have earbuds, wearing sunglasses, always watchful.
This is the same complex where just a few months ago, Leung would be the first death in a series of protests that would rock Hong Kong.
Over the course of the past 19 weeks, protesters have taken to the streets all over the city.
They have engaged in all manner of behavior.
Several of them have died, all reportedly by suicide.
Not all the protesters believe that’s the real reason.
But others claim the despair is so great among the youths of the city that suicide is very predictable.
When you talk to the people who are behind the democracy movement, to the protesters and the organizers and the organizer-adjacent, you can view the motives that have animated the streets for the past 19-plus weeks as existing within a broader context of conflict over autonomy and self-determination.
If you are a young Hong Konger, in your late 20s to early 30s, you remember the past before the handoff.
You are mindful of the years when Hong Kong had a higher degree of autonomy that would presumably be protected.
You see what you are losing in the current moment — and that’s what makes you take to the streets.
The current protests are being framed by the West as the first in Hong Kong in the era of comprehensive digital media and social communication that can bypass the restrictions of the state. That’s true to an extent — much of what’s happened in the past weeks here has focused on that audience.
But what separates this from the past, such as the Umbrella Revolution, is that the whole city is all in on this, existentially, regardless of class divide. 
This despite the wishful thinking of the likes of Russia Today, the propaganda network of Vladimir Putin, which compared the protesters to classist uprisers from the film series “The Purge,” splicing clips together between the violent American movie and the acts of protesters in the city.
That level of deadly violence, as waged by the protesters, is absent, but there is violence nonetheless — petrol fire bombs, sharp objects, and vandalism abound.
Graffiti is omnipresent, but painted over lazily, as if the cleaners know that they will be back to do the same task again the next morning.
The city does not feel like a powder keg — more like a solid pot that looks safe and cool to the touch, but inside hides a roiling boil that will burn you in an instant.

Hawley’s Night with Hong Kong Protesters
The night one policeman’s neck was slashed, Sen. Josh Hawley, freshman Republican from Missouri, was in the streets with the protesters, bearing witness to their actions and the response of the police.
A white Kia emblazoned with graffiti, smashed and broken open with its contents spilled on the ground, was a short half-block from the main street.
According to protesters, the occupant inside had presented himself as a journalist, but was in reality a cop embedded within the movement.
Whether true or not, the protesters had exacted their revenge on his vehicle, cracking it open like an egg and feathering it with fliers and leaflets.
After a few minutes of press attention, clad in yellow jackets, streaming in a multitude of languages, holding up their various electronic devices in the spitting rain, came the sound of shouts that in any language reveal the the oncoming threat of Five-O.
“Be Water” is the mantra of the protesters now — a reference to their own Bruce Lee, who said, “Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it.”
Instead of seeking physical confrontation with the cops, now they flow away from the high ground in all directions, and regroup.
The cops roll in en masse, prompting a scurry of masked individuals from the scene.
They run in all directions as bus after bus unloads masked police officers, clad in armor and bulky gear, wielding large shields and bellowing orders.
They surround the scene and push back anyone in the area, blocking the nearby intersection.
They carry tear gas guns and batons, with no identifying badge numbers, and if you try to take their picture even of their glaring eyes, they unleash a torrent of epilepsy-inducing strobe lights.
Hawley, a slim athletic man who looks more like a health nut executive than a senator, loped through the cross streets, standing head and shoulders above the crowd, talking variously with protesters and with press, taking pictures on his own phone to share with the Western world.
His staff had to work to pull him away from the scene, even when the loudspeakers are ordering crowds to disperse.
The protesters and organizers know who Hawley is, and some even mention that he is the youngest senator.
It is a funny thing to hear Hong Kong twentysomethings with a greater knowledge of American civics than the average U.S. voter — especially when they query about subcommittee hearings and unanimous consent.
The interest of the protest-adjacent leadership is in the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act — authored originally by Marco Rubio, with more than 30 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Whether it would result in meaningful impact on Hong Kong’s situation or not, it would be a signal to Hong Kong and Beijing and other nations as well about the way these protests are perceived.
An older woman, unmasked and barefoot, wearing a flowery orange and pink dress, stands on the corner of the intersection, letting the police have it.
A call and response develops between the different corners as members of the press crowd around the woman.
The protesters are not throwing anything at the police or engaging in physical action, but they are daring them to do what they have seen them do for weeks: to beat the citizens they are supposed to protect, not for doing anything wrong, but for the things they dare to say.
Everyone is waiting for something to break.
This time, the cops hold back.
They know the next 24 hours will potentially bring an even bigger demonstration, and don’t want to make another martyr on the eve of a public spectacle.
They set about clearing the makeshift barricade protesters had arranged — a rather impressive mix of trash cans, traffic signs, concrete, and rebar.
Well-dressed shopkeepers along the main drag peer through metal slats they bring down whenever the sirens draw near.
In between the stores and shops, the graffiti blanketing wooden barriers alternates between Cantonese and English, expressing all manner of viewpoints — but all anti-cop.
Some words indicated the cops were working hand in glove with the local Triads criminal operation, something that has been accused multiple times.
Others focused more blatantly on the mainland, including one saying, “Pooh is watching,” Winnie the Pooh being a stand-in for Dictator Xi.
Recently, a particularly enterprising protester set up a broadcast allowing for the “South Park” episode “Band in China” featuring just that reference to be displayed after it was, well, banned in China.
These are the types of tactics these young, technologically adept and passionate protesters are engaged in.
A strobe light from an anonymous cop’s shoulder doesn’t really stand a chance against it.
In the morning, Hawley will describe the scene in Hong Kong to the Western press as a “police state” — prompting Hong Kong’s chief politician Carrie Lam to disagree.
It is hard to see how he is wrong.


Josh Hawley
✔@HawleyMO
I chose the words “police state” purposely - because that is exactly what Hong Kong is becoming. I saw it myself. If Carrie Lam wants to demonstrate otherwise, here’s an idea: resign https://twitter.com/tictoc/status/1183935160707764225 …
Bloomberg TicToc
✔@tictoc
"To describe Hong Kong as a police state is totally unfounded."
Leader Carrie Lam says U.S. senators visiting Hong Kong have preconceived views about the city. Senators Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and Rick Scott have visited the city since the #HongKongProtests #香港

23.7K
5:31 AM - Oct 15, 2019

American Response and Corporate Censorship
In recent weeks, this story took on new life in America and the West thanks to some odd flashpoints. For America, much of it was focused on the issue of the National Basketball Association.
The NBA has an extreme foothold here — 17 percent of its revenue comes from China, and it had the misfortune this month to discover that this Hong Kong issue was creeping into the overall tour that was going on promoting the basketball association in China, featuring some of its biggest stars.
After Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey had the audacity to retweet an image meme supporting freedom in Hong Kong, the Chinese flipped, and Americans flipped even more when they saw how quickly various "woke" athletes and administrators in the NBA, who have made politics a centerpiece of their appeal in recent years, were willing to bend the knee to the Chinese communists.
The most recent was LeBron James, whose cowardly comments trended on Twitter hours after the massive protests took over Hong Kong streets again.
James called for Morey to educate himself.
Well, we’re all in need of a good re-education, from time to time.


Ben Domenech
✔@bdomenech
This was the Top Tweet I saw as I switched from my burner after three days in Hong Kong among the protesters.
Look into the eyes of a young Hong Konger who has seen her friends beaten and imprisoned and spout this bullshit.
I have never hated LeBron until this instant. https://twitter.com/BenGolliver/status/1183917743680020480 …
Ben Golliver
✔@BenGolliver
Lakers’ LeBron James on NBA’s China controversy: “I don’t want to get into a ... feud with Daryl Morey but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke.”

5,592
5:15 AM - Oct 15, 2019

In the category of video games, an outburst from a gamer within the Blizzard universe led to crackdowns and apologies that rocketed around a world of advanced E-gamers who have become far more popular than ever before, even rivaling great physical athletes.
Protesters also saw the bending of the knee from other corporations, such as Apple, which deleted the HKmap.live app being used by some protesters to track the activities of police in Hong Kong.
But it was hardly their only app.
In Hong Kong, it’s understood that not everyone can take the black or wear a mask.
For their part, the white-collar protesters are doing their best to hide.
They are canceling their own social media accounts.
They are trying to prevent themselves from being connected to their businesses for any political expressions.
They are worried about the accountability and the enforcement mechanisms used by authoritarian regimes that can control the access to billions of potential customers.
But they still are showing up to the protests, such as those on Monday that clogged the streets with peaceful demonstrators.
Meanwhile, the police union has asked for permission to fire at will on protesters who use various implements:
Authorities have already loosened guidelines on the use of force by police, according to documents seen by Reuters on Thursday, as they struggle to stamp out anti-government protests that have rocked Hong Kong for nearly four months.
The loosening of restrictions on the use of force by police came into effect just before some of the most violent turmoil yet at protests on Tuesday, when a teenaged secondary school student was shot by an officer in the chest and wounded — the first time a demonstrator had been hit by live fire. …
Local media Now TV and Cable TV reported the changes to the police procedures manual took effect on Sept. 30, the day before Tuesday’s violence at widespread protests on China’s National Day, during which the student was shot. …
The updated guidelines also removed a line that said “officers will be accountable for their own actions”, stating only that “officers on the ground should exercise their own discretion to determine what level of force is justified in a given situation”.
Police have shot one protester already with live ammunition. 
The protesters expect there will be more.
On the mainland, the focus has been on economic policy and welfare, and Carrie Lam would like to stick to that.
But in reality, these protests are about a lot more than that.
They are about the future of a Hong Kong that many people see as slipping away, one that young people in particular fear they are losing.
The protests started with concerns that the extradition law would mean the end of Hong Kong as they know it.
Now, it’s about something much bigger.
After multiple incidents where the cops are seen as having whitewashed the facts, they have lost the assumption among the citizenry that they are telling the truth. 
Already, political activists are fleeing to other countries.
Elderly groups who attempt to protect the children have already incited police incidents.
Religious freedom concerns are rising, particularly about the Chinese state wanting to set up boards to infiltrate and alter those assumptions of religious schools.
The crackdown on free internet is constantly feared.
A government official who was asked about this on the radio recently was quoted as saying, “Never say never.”

This Hong Kong Protest Is Different From the Past
This is not the first era of protest in Hong Kong since the handover in 1997.
Previous protests, such as the Umbrella Revolution, were overwhelmingly peaceful, but there is now a feeling that a peaceful approach has not been effective, particularly in an era in which police appear ready to engage in escalating levels of violence.
For years, pro-democracy advocates who feared that Beijing would crack down on the city system they know and love restrained themselves, participating almost exclusively in nonviolent protest. They would march with permits, organize under the existing law, and generally not buck the system they inhabit.
This feels different.
Joshua Wong, a student activist who was at the center of both Umbrella and other protests in the past, who was standing in jail when he saw the nearly 2 million people come out to protest peacefully in the streets back in July, is concerned that this is a moment in which Hong Kong could see its autonomy seriously slip away, based not just on its own situation but on the international priorities of Dictator Xi.
These are the sorts of concerns echoed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Wearing all black in sympathy for the protesters, he visited key figures in Hong Kong this past week and spoke to the West on “Face the Nation.”
A spokesman for Beijing reportedly said he would no longer be welcome in Hong Kong, something which Cruz may be likely to test in the future.
The use of excessive force is an underlying element of all of the protesters’ complaints. 
Police remove gas masks from protesters who are trying to resist the tear gas the officers throw. 
They use water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. 
They take gas masks even off journalists, and they arbitrarily arrest bystanders. 
During the Umbrella protests, there were only eight arrests of cops for use of excessive force, stemming from two incidents.
And according to protester counts, in the past four months, the police in Hong Kong have deployed 3,000 gas canisters, compared to 89 during the entirety of the Umbrella protests.
The establishment on the island, made up of both politicians and tycoons who work within the financial sector, have largely favored what Beijing and the mainland has favored in recent years.
But the threat of an extradition law that would have rolled back the authority of Hong Kong to adjudicate criminal matters regarding its citizens proved a bridge too far.
Not wanting to displease the political authorities but wanting to maintain their authority, a few of these corporate citizens have broken from the rest of the herd.
Mainland China is not interested in such breakage. 
It is demanding more and more the kind of fealty one would expect from an authoritarian regime.

Hong Kong Protesters Have Big Demands
The protesters have five demands — a series of issues they want to be at the centerpiece of the conversation over the next week as the Legislative Council meets for the first time since these protests began.
Carrie Lam, under siege politically and facing falling popularity, is set to give an agenda-setting speech, though it’s unclear whether security concerns will allow her to give it in person.
The mask ban is a key point of dispute here.
It attracted international attention recently, designed to crack down on the ability of protesters to keep their identities secret.
It was not a legislative action, but an executive one — a step undertaken outside the process.
Protesters fear it is a sign of what will come.
Rather than being motivated by independence, the protesters in Hong Kong are focused on the issue of autonomy — a form of autonomy they have experienced for decades.
They see within the expansion of Xi Jinping’s power the threat to that existence and to the one country, two systems approach.
These protests are more connected to other populist movements around the world, of the past and the present, than external observers have acknowledged.
It took over a year of open combat before the Americans gave up on their original aim of self-governance under the crown and went for independence in the 1700s. 
Radicalization takes time, but when it comes, it comes in a torrent.
All around the world, people are tired of being governed by leaders who do not care how they vote. Hong Kong is joining them in this.
The possibility that the Hong Kong authorities will use colonial powers to suspend habeas corpus, defy the public will, and crack down in violent fashion on these protests is very real.
Wong predicts that protests will continue, regardless of what is done when the Legislative Council meets or when elections are held.
The fear is that Hong Kong is being turned into a police state beholden to Beijing, where these crackdowns are viewed as necessary to keep up appearances to the outside world.
But that is harder in an era of ever-present smartphones.
Beijing is primarily focused on containment. 
It does not want to see the kind of protest happening in Hong Kong spread to other key cities under its regime, but there are other schools of thought as well.
If Beijing does let the unrest fester, it could be because Beijing sees the potential lesson for other citizens: Protests damage the economy, and it can say to others on the mainland, “See what happens when you want freedom and sovereignty?”
At the moment, it is mostly the mid-tier industries affected by these protests, tourism and the like. This is a real problem.
The malls are half-filled with the types of people who normally shop there.
New deals only do so much to offset the ever-present reminders.
What the protesters are demanding is big.
For one, universal suffrage: In the current system the powers that be, anointed by Beijing, are the ones who pick the candidates people can vote on.
Real universal suffrage would include the people’s ability to pick their own candidates for key positions.
For another, the rejection of the label “rioters,” one that carries with it a 10-year potential imprisonment.
And it is unlikely any of the protests will dissipate absent an independent commission looking into the police response.
For big demands like this, the peaceful protests of the past did not result in the kind of changes they wanted to achieve.
In July, almost a quarter of the island’s population came out to peacefully protest, and while that led to Carrie Lam’s decision to pull the extradition bill back, it did not lead to the kind of shifts those protesters really wanted to see, ones that would clearly indicate that the powerful had heard the complaints of the island citizenry over the encroaching reach of the mainland.
Instead, protesters are left to appeal to the international community.
Some are even hoping for the direction of sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, including severe economic sanctions against those found to have engaged in human rights abuses, freezing or seizing their assets and canceling their family visas to the West.
As the danger to autonomy increases, the response from Hong Kong’s citizenry becomes more strict and more aggressive.
The differences between past protests are clear.
This one is leaderless.
Leaderless movements are better, the protesters tell me, because they cannot be shut down just by arresting one person.
The protesters who have engaged in more violent activity, including the throwing of petrol bombs and the like, damaging property, and setting up barricades, have been branded by the media as radical. But the protest activists call them brave.
This is a matter the activists believe has been an increasing problem for the police force in Hong Kong.
The cops hide their badge numbers and their faces so they cannot be identified, and so even when protesters attempt to report the kind of brutality they readily experienced and for which there is a significant amount of video and photographic evidence, there is no way to attach those complaints to an actual officer. 
Protesters say this is the worst they’ve ever seen it, that the government tactics are escalating.
They now risk violence eagerly and say the police complaint mechanism is broken, where anonymity prevents any useful accountability.
Protests are now being routinely redefined as inherently unlawful, where no permission is granted for the kind of peaceful exhibitions that had existed in the past, so there is no incentive to organize peacefully.
The police have lost credibility, and Hong Kong now has no safety valve. 
In response, some within the protest movement have engaged in mob violence.
“Take care of it ourselves” is the mantra, including vigilante justice against those individuals the mob believes have engaged in behavior that hurts their cause.

Protesters Aren’t Giving Up
The Hong Kongers took the streets again on Monday night, with a specific focus on U.S. policy. There were hundreds of thousands of them, surrounding buildings, raising flags, singing songs.
There was no violence.
They were happy and optimistic, uninterested in violence.
They were trying to send a message.


Jessie Pang@JessiePang0125
Thousands of protesters rallied on Monday night to call for the support on the HK Human Rights and Democracy Act. It is also the first rally that obtained non-objection letter from the police since the #AntiMaskLaw is implemented. Yet, many still wear their masks tonight.

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3:03 PM - Oct 14, 2019

Much of the intelligent analysis of populist uprisings in recent years has understood the central nature of autonomy to the appeal, right and left, of such anti-elite movements.
Hong Kong should be seen as part of this.
This is not just a student revolt.
It is not a class revolt.
It is a revolt on behalf of citizens demanding individual accountability. 
They look to the lot of young people losing hope and the rise of suicide among those who see a loss to their freedom, and they want a path that is cordoned by the nostalgia for the past.
An upcoming election could prove significant in terms of the ability of the city to let off steam, but this is a long-term problem.
The people of Hong Kong see a government that is beholden to Beijing and the interests of the mainland, as opposed to responsive to its citizens. 
They see a government that is pushing for cameras in the classrooms to monitor which students are wearing masks or all black in school, showing an affinity for the protesters. 
They see the punishment for corporate leaders summoned to Beijing after expressions of solidarity with the protesters, and they fear that if the situation spirals further, significant crackdowns away from the cameras and protests could be the result.
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Diplomacy Act is scheduled for hearing in the House of Representatives this week.
The political freedom of Hong Kong depends on Beijing, and no act of Congress will change that. But the protest community is more hopeful, because they believe they are being heard — that by taking on this endeavor while their autonomy still hangs in the balance, before it is stolen away by the mainland, they can look to the economic freedom of Western business as a reason why all is not lost.
Others are less optimistic.
But when a fourth of your population demands something, there is a serious consequence when nothing happens — when millions of normal, law-abiding people feel their own autonomy, and the autonomy of their children, is at risk.
As one protester told me, with a smile: “We’re not afraid of tear gas anymore.”

What’s Happening With the Hong Kong Protests?

The demonstrations created the city’s worst political crisis in years, ensnaring Beijing, Washington and foreign businesses. Here’s a guide to what’s happening.
By Daniel Victor and Mike Ives

Hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong, a city of about seven million, protested a contentious extradition law on June 9.

At first, the hundreds of thousands of peaceful Hong Kong demonstrators who took to the streets this June were focused on contentious, local legislation that would have allowed extraditions to the Chinese mainland.
But as the list of demands grew in the semiautonomous territory, and as clashes between the police and the protesters increased, the movement took on greater global importance.
China has viewed the protests as a challenge to its power, while democracy supporters worldwide have cheered what they see as a poke in the eye of the autocratic Chinese government. 

It all comes amid a rancorous trade war between China and the United States, and some international businesses have found themselves stuck in a political mess they wanted no part of.
How did we get here?
Here’s a primer on what’s happening in Hong Kong, and how the protests have unfolded over several months.

What is Hong Kong’s relationship with China?
Hong Kong, an international finance hub on China’s southern coast, was a British colony until 1997, when it was handed back to China under a policy known as “one country, two systems.”
The policy made Hong Kong part of China but let it keep many liberties denied to citizens on the mainland, including free speech, unrestricted internet access and the right to free assembly. 

The territory has its own laws, system of government and police force under a mini-constitution known as the Basic Law. 

China promised that this system would remain in place until at least 2047.
But Beijing is chipping away at Hong Kong's autonomy, and the local government does its bidding. 

The territory’s top leader, the chief executive — currently Carrie Lam — is appointed by a pro-Beijing committee. 

And she recently used her emergency powers to single-handedly enact a ban on face masks at protests, bypassing the partially elected legislature.

What’s driving the protests?

Protesters threw back tear gas canisters fired by police outside the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong on June 12.

In February, the local government introduced a bill, since scrapped, that would have allowed people accused of crimes to be sent to places with which Hong Kong had no extradition treaty — including mainland China, where the courts are controlled by the Communist Party. 

Lam argued that the bill was needed to guarantee justice in cases like a man who was accused of killing his girlfriend in Taiwan, then evaded prosecution by fleeing to Hong Kong. 

Critics said the bill would allow Beijing to target dissidents in Hong Kong with phony charges, exposing activists to China’s opaque legal system.
Hundreds of thousands of people, including elderly residents and families with children, joined a peaceful march to oppose the bill on June 9. 

But on June 12, the discussion and demands changed when the police used pepper spray, batons and more than 150 canisters of tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters, a small number of whom had thrown projectiles at the police.
Irate at the police response, protesters demanded an independent investigation of the police force — a demand leaders have refused. 

Anger toward the police has grown precipitously since then, as has violence on both sides.

Why have the demonstrations turned violent?

Protesters throw bricks and molotov cocktails at riot police.

Fueled by anger toward the police, as well as the slow erosion of civil liberties, the largely leaderless protests morphed into a broader, more complicated movement about protecting freedoms, democracy and Hong Kong’s autonomy. 

The list of protesters’ demands has grown to include amnesty for arrested participants and direct elections for all lawmakers and the chief executive.
Only one of their demands has been met: the withdrawal of the extradition bill. 

So protesters have continued to take over streets, and have adapted their tactics in hopes of forcing the government’s hand.
While the vast majority of participants have been nonviolent, clashes between the police and young protesters in hard hats, masks and black T-shirts have escalated sharply. 

The police have used water cannons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets while dispersing crowds, and their tactics have been criticized by protesters and international watchdogs. 

Videos of particularly brutal arrests have infuriated protesters, especially a scene from October in which a police officer shot a protester in the chest with a live round.
Having felt their peaceful rallies were ineffective, a minority of protesters has become increasingly aggressive.

They have thrown bricks and Molotov cocktails, and in one case stabbed a police officer. 

The police say that one homemade bomb has been detonated during a protest. 

And there has been property damage to the train system, which support the police, and pro-China businesses.
Still, nonviolent protests have continued. 

The demonstrators have staged strikes, surrounded police stations, shut down the airport and formed huge marches, while the city’s creative class has turned protest into art and song.

What are the implications for China?

The N.B.A. flagship retail store in Beijing last week.

Much of the international intrigue is based on closely examining how China responds to the protests, and how much democracy its leaders can stomach in its efforts to prove its model works.
Thus far, fears of a Tiananmen-style crackdown have not borne out. 

The Chinese military has a garrison in Hong Kong, but its deployment is widely seen as a worst-case scenario that all sides want to avoid. 

The international business community would likely see a military intervention as the end of “one country, two systems,” and an exodus of businesses could soon follow.
Instead, China has tried to turn public opinion against the protesters. 

The state media has depicted them as violent separatists.

The state media fanned the flames of a backlash against the N.B.A. after a team executive expressed support of the protests on Twitter.
The issue has added another layer of intrigue to the ongoing trade discussions between the United States and China. 

Democratic and Republican politicians have been largely united in support of the protests, but Trump has been more muted.

Why is there bipartisan agreement in the United States on supporting the protesters?

A rally in Hong Kong on Monday evening calling for the US Congress to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.

It’s a rare source of across-the-aisle unity. 

There aren’t many issues that would bring together Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democrat from New York, but they were among a bipartisan coalition to sign the same letter in support of the protesters. 

Other politicians, including leaders Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, have been in virtually unanimous agreement.
It stems from a shared distrust of the Chinese government, a much broader issue that often creates agreement between Republicans and Democrats. 

China’s authoritarian model is considered a wide-ranging threat to the United States, and the pro-democracy, anti-China sentiment of the protests aligns with popular American attitudes.
The protesters’ supporters in the United States, and elsewhere in the world, see them as being on the right side of a battle between democracy and authoritarianism. 

They view supporting the protesters as supporting the concept of democracy.

Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act

Hong Kong protesters plead for American protection as police crackdown intensifies

By Shibani Mahtani

Anti-government demonstrators hold U.S. flags as they march in protest against the invocation of the emergency laws in Hong Kong, China, October 14, 2019. 

HONG KONG — Protesters gathered in the tens of thousands in central Hong Kong on Monday night, pleading with American lawmakers for the second time to pass legislation that supports the territory’s democratic aspirations and punishes those who try to curtail it.
The demonstration, the first approved by authorities since the imposition of an anti-mask ban at all public gatherings, was marked by the sense of anguish that has gripped the movement after months of protesting. 

Instead of offering any further concessions, the government has instead expanded police powers and imposed more restrictions.
As the crackdown on protests intensifies — with the arrest of more than 2,500, including 201 arrested in smaller-scale protests over the weekend — some see foreign pressure as the best hope for securing a democratic future for Hong Kong.
“Our citizens do not have any kind of power to fight against the government,” said Crystal Yeung, 23, standing among thousands of protesters spilling out onto roads from a small square that couldn’t contain the rally. 

“We are relying on the U.S. to punish to those who are trying to breach the Hong Kong law.”
Protesters are specifically hoping for the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a piece of legislation that has broad bipartisan support. 

The bill, which will require the annual review of the special treatment afforded by Washington to Hong Kong and allow sanctions on those found to be “suppressing basic freedoms,” was fast-tracked through the House and could be discussed as soon as this week. 

In the Senate, it remains in committee.
A large demonstration was first held in September in support of the bill, but protest organizers want to keep the pressure on as it makes it way through the congressional process.
“The bill is necessary in order to give pressure on Chinese and Hong Kong government,” said Ventus Lau, one of the organizers of Monday’s demonstration. 

“We have to do everything possible to push for a quick passing of the law.”
The international push is among several strategies employed by protesters as the Hong Kong government digs in their heels in against any further concession to the movement. 

Protests began in June over a bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China, but have since swelled into a sustained effort at securing direct elections for Hong Kong and against increasingly harsh police tactics. 

Communities are divided, businesses are suffering and violence is increasing as the dissent drags on.
Several Republican senators have recently visited Hong Kong, including Ted Cruz (R.-Tex) and Josh Hawley (R.-Mo) to observe the protests and speak to pro-democracy activists. 

Both are sponsors of the Human Rights and Democracy Act.

Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley listens to questions from members of the media at a hotel in Hong Kong on Oct. 14, 2019.

The bill “has come up in every single meeting” with pro-democracy activists in the city, said Hawley, speaking in Hong Kong to a small group of reporters. 

He said the legislation could be voted on in the House as early as this week. 

“It is obviously a very felt and urgent concern here in the city, and rightly so.”
Prominent activist Joshua Wong, speaking at the rally, noted that when the bill was first floated, only a handful backed it. 

Today, more than 60 lawmakers have supported the legislation.
“We owe it all to the blood and sweat spared by the front-line protesters and the peaceful protesters,” Wong said, before leading the group into a cheer of “Pass the act!” 

Chants were so loud they could be heard miles from the rally’s gathering point. 

Speaking Sunday in Nepal, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping said any attempt “to split China in any part of the country will end in “crushed bodies and shattered bones.”

Trump has appeared to change his tone on Hong Kong several times in recent months.

At the United Nations, he made strong comments in defense of the city’s promised autonomy, saying the world “fully expects” Beijing will protect “Hong Kong’s freedom, legal system and democratic ways of life.”
Speaking to reporters last week after a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, however, Trump said the situation in Hong Kong is “going to take care of itself” and has “de-escalated”.
Hawley, the congressman, said the situation in Hong Kong is an “urgent, pressing concern” and would share his experiences with Trump.
On Sunday, protests broke out in several areas of the city, a new tactic that sought to scatter the police force, allow demonstrators to stick to local neighborhoods they are most familiar with and avoid transit shutdowns. 

Numbers however were much smaller than in past rallies, and police were able to make a large number of arrests compared to the size of the demonstrating crowd.
Protester violence has also increased, leaving 12 officers wounded, including one who was cut in the back of his neck by a sharp object. 

What appeared to be a homemade bomb was set off near a police car, and a police station in Mongkok was hit by over a dozen petrol bombs.
Police said 201 protesters between the ages of 14 to 62 were arrested between Friday to Sunday.

Anti-government demonstrator holds a placard as they march in protest against the invocation of the emergency laws in Hong Kong, China, Oct. 14, 2019. 

Yeung, who was attending the rally with her boyfriend, added that even without any American action on the bill, Hong Kong’s fight will go on. 

Several more rallies are planned over the coming weeks.
“Hong Kong people must rely on our own power, our unity to fight against the government,” she said. 

“We will keep fighting anyway”

American greed: NBA sold its soul to China over cash

Ted Cruz, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Demand NBA to Suspend China Activities Over Boycott
AFP

Washington – A bipartisan set of US lawmakers urged the NBA on Wednesday to suspend all activities in China until Chinese firms and broadcasters end their boycott of the league and the Houston Rockets.
The open letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver came from eight US lawmakers as politically diverse as Ted Cruz of Texas and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, both from states with multiple NBA teams.
“You have more power to take a stand than most of the Chinese government’s targets and should have the courage and integrity to use it,” the letter said.
“It’s not unreasonable to expect American companies to put our fundamental democratic rights ahead of profit.”
The letter comes in the wake of a since-deleted tweet from Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.
That prompted the Chinese government to end sponsorships for the team and league and drop planned NBA telecasts in China, huge NBA logos and banner being stripped off buildings a sign of the anger.
After early NBA statements were seen as overly capitulating, Silver said, “I understand there are consequences from … his freedom of speech. We will have to live with those consequences. As a league, we’re not willing to compromise those values.”
The full cost might not be known for months, with the NBA having made lucrative deals to a nation of 1.4 billion that loves basketball. 

But the lawmakers demanded values win over profits.
“Equivocating when profits are at stake is a betrayal of fundamental American values,” the lawmakers wrote. 

“That you have more potential fans in China than in Hong Kong is no excuse for bending over backwards to express ‘sensitivity’ only to one side.”
Lawmakers urged Silver to take four steps to harden the NBA’s stance against China’s retaliatory moves, most notably shutting down NBA activities in China, where two pre-season exhibition games were slated to be played.
“The NBA should have anticipated the challenges of doing business in a country run by a repressive single party government, including by being prepared to stand in strong defense of the freedom of expression of its employees, players, and affiliates across the globe,” the lawmakers wrote.
They also pushed for an end to punishments to the Rockets, saying the NBA must be united against “future efforts by Chinese government-controlled entities to single out individual teams, players, or associates for boycotts or selective treatment.”
That would also include NBA stars with major sponsor deals in China, including LeBron James, James Harden and now-retired Kobe Bryant.
Lawmakers want Silver to “re-evaluate” having an NBA Academy in East Turkestan, “where up to a million Chinese citizens are held in concentration camps as part of a massive government-run campaign of ethno-religious repression.” 

Lawmakers fear self-censorship
The threat of capitulating on free speech issues to Chinese Communist Party censorship by the NBA and other businesses was a major emphasis for lawmakers.
“We would hope to see Americans standing up and speaking out in defense of the rights of the people of Hong Kong,” the letter said, saying pressure on Morey to back away from his tweet “sold out an American citizen.”
“We are deeply concerned that individuals associated with the league may now engage in self-censorship that is inconsistent with American and the league’s stated values.
“This is an outcome that Americans reject, and one that you should reject — especially given that the NBA represents a unique brand for which there is no competition inside or outside China.”
A hard split could leave basketball-hungry fans in China struggling for banished NBA news, much like baseball fans in Communist Cuba struggled for news on US major league teams.
Lawmakers asked Silver to support the rights for all NBA players, staff, partners and fans to express their opinions no matter the economic repercussions and stress that while Chinese law will be respected in China, American laws and principles will govern global NBA operations.
They also want Silver to clarify in NBA documents that “public commentary on international human rights repression — including in Tibet, Hong Kong, and East Turkestan –falls within expected standards of public behavior and expression.”

America's Moral Pygmies

The NBA Chooses China’s Money Over Hong Kong’s Human Rights
Daryl Morey is forced to apologize because he supports Democracy
By JAMIL SMITH

Pro-democracy protesters arrested by police during a clash at a demonstration in Wan Chai district on October 6, 2019 in Hong Kong, China.

Daryl Morey did the right thing — at first.
In a Friday night tweet that he has since deleted, the Houston Rockets general manager expressed support for the legions of protesters who have taken to the streets of Hong Kong.
The demonstrations started as a protest against a new Chinese extradition bill that opponents believe would lead to the disappearance of Hong Kong’s critics of the Chinese regime, as well as infringe upon the limited independence the semi-autonomous region enjoys.

The bill was pulled in September, but the protesters have additional demands, including an independent inquiry on police brutality and the resignation of Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam.
These are understandable fears when dealing with a Communist regime like China’s. 

And the NBA has long been known as perhaps the most free-thinking, outspoken league when it comes to the politics of its players. (Just last week, the governor of California signed a controversial bill into law on a television show hosted by LeBron James, arguably the league’s most visible player.)
However, the problem for Morey is that the Chinese also love basketball. 

And thanks surely to the stardom of former Rockets Yao Ming — now the head of the Chinese Basketball Association — Houston trailed only Golden State in popularity in the nation, per a recent survey. 

There appears to be too much money to be made in China for the NBA to stand up for human rights.
Yao himself responded to Morey’s tweet with condemnation, calling it “an inappropriate comment related to Hong Kong” and the CBA suspended its “exchanges and cooperation” with the Rockets. Chinese sportswear maker Li-Ning did the same, suspending its association with the team. 

The Chinese government also weighed in via its consulate, saying that it was “deeply shocked” by the tweet. 

The Rockets owner, Tilman Fertitta, quickly disowned Morey’s tweet:


Tilman Fertitta
✔@TilmanJFertitta
Listen....@dmorey does NOT speak for the @HoustonRockets. Our presence in Tokyo is all about the promotion of the @NBA internationally and we are NOT a political organization. @espn https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/1180312072027947008 …
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5:54 AM - Oct 5, 2019

The Rockets and the NBA could have stood up for Morey, for decency, and for the protesters and their human rights. 

More than 2,000 have been injured in months of demonstrations that the Chinese government characterizes as “riots.” 

But they instead folded all too readily, all too eager to hold onto the dollars that they glean from the Communist nation.
The NBA issued a sorry statement, declaring the league realizes that the tweet may have “deeply offended” Chinese fans and that they “have great respect for the history and culture of China,” as if that had anything to do with a bill that could be used to disappear journalists and critics of an autocratic regime. 

Morey, who The Ringer reports was at one point in jeopardy of losing his job, tweeted his own apology that read like it was dictated by his boss. 

Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai, a co-founder of Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba, published an open letter on Facebook that referred to protesters as a “separatist movement.” 

Even James Harden, the Rockets’ star guard, issued a mea culpa for some reason, even though he wasn’t involved.
That last bit of rank submission to an autocratic regime captured the full extent of the NBA’s sellout to China. 

Several politicians on the left and right, including presidential candidate Julián Castro and Rep. Ben Sasse (R-MO), called out the NBA’s cowardice. 

Even Rockets fan Ted Cruz took a principled stand:


Ted Cruz
✔@tedcruz
· Oct 7, 2019
As a lifelong @HoustonRockets fan, I was proud to see @dmorey call out the Chinese Communist Party’s repressive treatment of protestors in Hong Kong.
Now, in pursuit of big $$, the @nba is shamefully retreating. https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1181006820372025344 …
Sopan Deb
✔@SopanDeb
NEW: the NBA has released a statement on Daryl Morey:



Ted Cruz
✔@tedcruz
We’re better than this; human rights shouldn’t be for sale & the NBA shouldn’t be assisting Chinese communist censorship.
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For all its MLK Day t-shirts and other symbolic gestures towards wokeness here in the States, this is still the league that sees fit to do business with a regime that represses human rights whenever given the chance.

The league even has a presence in East Turkestan, in the northwest of the country. 

It is the Chinese colony where Slate reported last year the nation’s authorities were holding roughly one million Muslims, the Turkic-speaking minority called Uighurs, in concentration camps. 

The NBA has a different kind of camp there — one of its three national training camps — in Ürümqi, East Turkestan’s capital.

Sen. Cruz urges Trump administration to block China’s next UN power play

By Ben Evansky

Sen. Ted Cruz is calling on the Trump administration to block China from installing a controversial former head of the Hong Kong police force at the helm of a United Nations office meant to fight drug trafficking, organized crime and corruption.
China’s candidate Andy Tsang-Wai-hung was nominated by Beijing earlier this summer to be the next executive director of the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 

His candidacy, critics warn, marks yet another sign of China’s growing influence at the world body.
The annual budget of the organization for the year is around a quarter-billion dollars. 

Texas Republican Sen. Cruz -- who has sponsored legislation to halt Chinese infiltration on U.S. campuses and research institutions -- told Fox News in a statement that such Chinese efforts need to be stymied.
"The Chinese Communist Party has systematically pursued a policy of joining and exploiting international organizations to advance their agenda. The pattern is the same across issues as varied as the WTO, Internet governance, Interpol, and human rights bodies,” he said.
The Texas senator who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called on the administration to make sure Beijing is halted in its ambitions.
“The UN has no business putting yet another Communist Party cutout in a leadership position, especially one with a direct history of advancing China's abuses in Hong Kong. The Trump administration should use its voice and vote to block this appointment."
As Hong Kong police chief in 2014, Tsang was responsible for putting down pro-democracy protesters who demanded democratic elections for chief executive. 

More recently he served as China’s deputy director for its narcotics control commission.
Gordon Chang, a China expert, told Fox News that Tsang was “known to be a hardliner” when he ran the Hong Kong police.
“[He] headed the police in 2014 when the police used tear gas during the Occupy protests," Chang said. 

"The use of tear gas reignited the protests as ordinary citizens immediately turned off their televisions and took to the streets to show their indignation. Tsang, whether he made the decision to use tear gas or merely followed the orders of Chief Executive C. Y. Leung, was held responsible for one of the worst moves during that time.”
Chang also noted Tsang’s current position. 

“Any candidate proposed for a drug enforcement post by a one-party state behind some of the world's most dangerous drug networks should be rejected out of hand.” 

He said Tsang did not stop China's fentanyl rings “even though he had all the tools of a semi-totalitarian state at his disposal.”
He asked: “Is he really going to be more effective because he would move to Vienna? This would be a hideous appointment.”
China in recent years has become the second-largest contributor to the U.N. after the U.S., and has sought to widen its sphere of influence. 

It now runs four out of 15 U.N. specialized agencies.
A State Department official recently stated to Fox News that the U.S. was not retreating from the U.N. and said the administration was well aware of China’s ambitions.
“China’s concerted push has more to do with advancing its self-serving interests and authoritarian model than demonstrating genuine leadership consistent with the principles and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the U.N Charter,” the official said.
And while some diplomats at the U.N. feel Tsang’s candidacy is unlikely to result in another win for China, the government's U.N. engagement is on full display all the same.
A Heritage Foundation report titled, “How the U.S. Should Address Rising Influences at the United Nations,” authored by senior research fellow Brett Schaefer, noted China’s rise at the U.N. is “not a recent phenomenon.” 

The claim runs against news reports that assert China’s ascension is due to the Trump administration's pullback from the world body.
The report also said the U.S. should “focus its effort and resources on countering Chinese influence, advancing U.S. policy preferences, and increasing employment of U.S. nationals, particularly in senior positions, in those organizations whose remit affects key U.S. interests.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to announce his pick for the Vienna job in the coming months.

Chinese Fifth Column

FARA should apply to Confucius Institutes

BY ANDY KEISER

Under Xi Jinping's consolidated power, China is working diligently to supplant the United States as the world's top economic and military power. 

That includes a comprehensive effort to influence American K-12 and higher educational students with a favorable view of the Communist Chinese government to shape U.S. policy over the long-term.

This influence operation by a hostile foreign power, led by China's state-controlled Confucius Institutes, should trigger the Justice Department to require a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing by the institutes and its employees.
FARA requires anyone working at the behest of a foreign government to register with the Department of Justice. 

Originally written to combat propaganda, FARA also covers lobbying and public relations. 

FARA is a content-neutral disclosure statute that is designed to expose foreign associations to help ensure transparency and accountability in public policy.
Confucius Institutes are extensions of the Chinese government, plain and simple. 

They are owned and controlled by the government in Beijing and are overseen by the Office of Chinese Language International, commonly known as Hanban, a division of the Chinese Ministry of Education.
The Chinese government spends billions of dollars annually on propaganda activities promoted through Confucius Institutes. 

Primarily targeted to the U.S., there are more than 100 Confucius Institutes in the American universities and colleges that have opted into the programing. 

Confucius Institutes have expanded their reach to include K-12 education through an effort called "Confucius Classrooms."
The underhanded genius behind Confucius Institutes is that they operate under the benign guise of teaching Chinese language, culture and history while simultaneously ensuring that they can restrict speech, control curriculum and force educational institutions to choose Confucius Institute faculty from a pre-approved list of teachers provided by the Hanban.

According to a letter Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent last year to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Confucius Institutes "require the teaching to ignore human rights abuses, and stress that Taiwan and Tibet are part of China, among other restrictions."
Institute presence, particularly on U.S. college campuses, can also be a threat to economic and national security. 

The Chinese government can hand-pick employees at Confucius Institutes and use them as its eyes and ears or task them to steal sensitive, valuable university research. 

The transparency of a FARA filing would at least give more insight to U.S. counterintelligence professionals and to the public about the scope and scale of Confucius Institute activities.

According to Grassley's letter, a Chinese government official stated that the "Confucius Institute is an appealing brand for expanding our culture abroad. It has made an important contribution toward improving our soft power... using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, everything looks reasonable and logical."
Others have taken note. 

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Tom Carper (D-Del.), released a bipartisan report in 2015 that detailed the activities of Confucius Institutes. 

Among several alarming findings, it details that since 2006 the Chinese government has given more than $158 million to fund Confucius Institutes in the U.S. 

It has veto authority over events and speakers at the institutes, and controls every aspect of their operations in the United States, including staff members pledging to protect Chinese national interests.
Grassley recently introduced the Foreign Agents Disclosure and Registration Enhancement Act of 2019 to beef up FARA enforcement and held a hearing on foreign threats to taxpayer funded research, which focused extensively on China's activities on university campuses. 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has led a series of efforts against Chinese influence and espionage operations targeting American higher education, having secured a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 prohibiting the Department of Defense from funding Confucius Institutes.
Sen. Cruz has also introduced legislation called the Stop Higher Education Espionage and Theft Act to further crack down on Confucius Institutes, which he called "the velvet glove around the iron fist of their campaigns on our campuses."
The Chinese government's desire to influence our public policy through propaganda, conduct aggressive espionage on our soil and steal our intellectual property is real and hard to overestimate. The activities occurring at Confucius Institutes to achieve China's goals undoubtedly trigger the requirements of FARA. 

The Department of Justice should take immediate action to provide the type of transparency needed to help protect our nation.

Chinese Espionage

US lawmakers target Chinese student-spies
Restrictions planned on access to sensitive research and funding from China
Reuters

Chinese spies in American campus

Chinese students and scholars will find it harder to work in the United States if US lawmakers succeed in passing legislation aimed at securing sensitive information.
The members of Congress are writing bills that would require more reporting from colleges, universities and laboratories about funds from China, prohibit students or scholars with ties to the Chinese military from entering the United States, or set new limits on access to sensitive academic research.
Failure to comply could mean financial hardship.
The proposed bills add to growing pressure against Chinese students, researchers, companies and other organisations in the United States.
Amid an escalating trade war between China and the US, members of Congress have become increasingly concerned the thousands of Chinese students, professors and researchers in the US could pose a security threat by carrying sensitive information back to China.
Republican Senator John Cornyn said on Wednesday that he hoped to win bipartisan support for the Secure our Research Act, a bill he planned to introduce next week to prompt US institutions to do more to protect valuable research.

“We are under attack,” Cornyn said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing examining foreign threats to US research. “[China’s] goals are to dominate the United States military and economically.”
Cornyn, who is also a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called US academia “naive” about the threat from China. 

He warned that he would not vote for any plan to give taxpayer dollars to public institutions unless they improved security.

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas is hoping to win bipartisan support for a bill aimed at prompting US institutions to do more to protect research. 

Many of the individual bills face little chance of passing despite growing bipartisan concern in Congress over security risks from China.
While President Trump and many other Republicans want stricter controls on immigration as well as a hard line on China, pro-China Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, warn about the risks of making Chinese feel unwelcome.
Lawmakers from both parties, as well as university officials, point to the multimillion-dollar contribution to the US economy from the 350,000 Chinese who come for undergraduate or graduate studies.
However, small pieces of the measures could make their way into broader, must-pass bills, like the massive annual National Defence Authorisation Act, which is making its way through Congress.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Republican Representative Francis Rooney marked the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on Tuesday by reintroducing the Stop Higher Education Espionage and Theft (SHEET) Act, intended to prevent Chinese espionage efforts at US universities.