The Beacon of Freedom and Democracy

U.S. Lawmakers Nominate Hong Kong Protesters For Nobel Peace Prize

By Russell Flannery

Protesters march on the streets against an extradition bill in Hong Kong on June 16, 2019. 

It isn’t easy to get politicians from the two main U.S. political parties to agree on much. 

One common area, however, is often U.S. policy toward China, and today a bipartisan group of American lawmakers released a letter nominating Hong Kong’s pro-democracy moment for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.
The move comes at time when U.S.-China relations have been strained by trade and geopolitical tension, and as Beijing’s leaders are straining to control a coronavirus outbreak that has led to more than 400 deaths and 20,000 illnesses and threatens first-quarter economic growth (see related story here).

Representative James P. McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, Representatives Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican, Thomas Suozzi, a New York Democrat, and Tom Malinowski, a New Jersey Democrat, as well as Senators Jeffrey Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, and Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, supported the nomination. 

They are all members of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
The full letter is below:

January 31, 2020

Berit Reiss-Andersen
Chair
Nobel Peace Prize Committee
NO-0255 Oslo
Norway

Dear Chair Reiss-Andersen and Members of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee:

We, the undersigned members of the United States Congress, respectfully nominate the pro-democracy movement of Hong Kong to receive the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their efforts to protect Hong Kong’s autonomy, human rights, and the rule of law as guaranteed in the Sino-British Declaration and Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
The pro-democracy movement of Hong Kong has inspired the world as countless and often anonymous individuals risked their lives, their health, their jobs, and their education to support a better future for Hong Kong. 

They have demonstrated civic courage, extraordinary leadership, and an unwavering commitment to a free and democratic Hong Kong that upholds the rule of law and fundamental human rights and freedom.
In March 2019, a series of large-scale, pro-democracy protests began in Hong Kong in opposition to a proposed extradition bill that would have put anyone in Hong Kong at risk of extradition to mainland China, where arbitrary detention, lack of due process, torture, and other serious human rights abuses are well documented. 

The protest on June 16, 2019, included over two million participants out of a total population of approximately 7.5 million people living in Hong Kong, making it one of the largest mass protests in history.
The protesters represent a broad spectrum of Hong Kong society – students, children, retirees, women, teachers, flight attendants, bankers, lawyers, social workers, entrepreneurs, medical professionals, airport staff, migrant domestic workers, and civil servants. 

The entire city is engaged in a movement both unique and inspiring in its size, scope, and creativity. 

The protesters are savvy and have used peaceful and innovative methods of expression including art, music, lasers, projections on buildings, and joining hands across Hong Kong.
The pro-democracy movement made five reasonable demands of the Hong Kong government: 

1) withdraw the extradition bill; 

2) conduct an independent inquiry into the police violence; 

3) drop charges against all arrested protesters; 

4) retract the characterization of the June protests as “riots”; and 

5) the use of universal suffrage to elect the chief executive and legislative council members.
Instead of a pursuing political dialogue and negotiation, the Hong Kong government implemented a crackdown on peaceful protests and used excessive and unnecessary force in contravention of the U.N. Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms for Law Enforcement Officers. 

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an investigation of these incidents. 

The U.S. and the U.K. have both suspended the sale of police and crowd control equipment to Hong Kong.
Numerous individuals and organizations have for decades pressed for greater freedoms in Hong Kong, and the current movement is no exception. 

The pro-democracy movement of the past year has been impressively organized and coherent, yet notably leaderless and flexible. 

For this reason, rather than highlighting an individual or single organization, we wish to nominate the peaceful Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. 

This prize would honor the millions of people in Hong Kong whose bravery and determination have inspired the world.
We deeply appreciated the Nobel Committee’s past willingness to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo in 2010. 

Liu Xiaobo’s unjust imprisonment and ultimately his death is a stark reminder of the sacrifices made by so many people in China who have dared to speak out for their human rights.
We hope that the Nobel Committee will continue to shine a light on those struggling for peace and human rights in China and we believe the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong is more than deserving of recognition this year.

US lawmakers push Beijing puppet WHO to recognize Taiwan as independent state as Chinese coronavirus outbreak continues

BY J. EDWARD MORENO

U.S. lawmakers are pushing legislation that would work toward granting Taiwan recognition in the World Health Organization (WHO) in light of the Chinese coronavirus outbreak that has left Taiwan subject to flight bans and limited information.
The WHO — a branch of the United Nations — has relayed communication on the virus to China, which considers Taiwan a Chinese territory with an illegitimate independent government. 

The island’s status as a nation is a matter of international disagreement: the U.S., Japan, Canada and the European Union all recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, while the UN and Chinese satellites consider Taiwan a province of China. Taiwanese officials have received little information on the virus from WHO while also struggling to communicate with Chinese officials as they attempted to evacuate Taiwanese citizens from Wuhan, where the virus originated. 

Taiwan has 10 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and on Monday night quarantined 247 people repatriated to the island after being stranded in Wuhan.
According to Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu, flights to Taiwan from Vietnam and Italy were canceled last week based on information that grouped Taiwan as part of China. 

Flights from Vietnam were restored, but Taiwan is still “working through all diplomatic channels” to restore flights from Italy.
Wu argues that the WHO's choice to exclude Taiwan from the organization puts the health of Taiwanese citizens at risk. 
“While we are still going through our own channels and through like-minded friends to reason with the WHO to right its wrong, I would like to publicly call upon the WHO to recognize the simple fact that Taiwan is Taiwan and it is not part of the [People's Republic of China]," Wu told press on Sunday. 

"Taiwan is not under China's jurisdiction; Taiwan's and China's health are administered by separate and independent health authorities, and Taiwan's and China's flight information regions are administered by separate and independent civil aviation administrations."
“This is such a simple reality that the WHO should never have missed it," he continued. 

"Again, I call upon the WHO to correct its gross mistake.”
Taiwan was recognized by the WHO under the name “Chinese Taipei” from 1997 to 2016, when pro-sovereignty Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took power, leading China to pressure the UN to subject Taiwan to the “one China principle.” 

The Chinese coronavirus outbreak comes less than a month after Taiwan reelected Tsai by a large margin, sending a message to mainland China about where the Taiwanese electorate stands on the issue of sovereignty.
Last month Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) introduced legislation that would direct the State Department to develop a strategy that would give Taiwan recognition in the WHO. 

The bill passed the House unanimously and is currently in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 
“Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO puts the world at risk,” Yoho wrote in an op-ed in the Taipei Times. 

“That is why I have called for the re-establishment of Taiwan’s observer status on numerous occasions.”
Last week, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote a letter to the State Department asking it to push for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO. 

Days later, seven GOP senators — several of whom are also members of the Foreign Relations Committee — penned a letter to the WHO asking them to recognize Taiwan as an independent state.

Today @SenTomCotton @SenRubioPress @JohnCornyn @JimInhofe @SenatorRomney @SenTedCruz and I are calling on the @WHO to grant Taiwan observer status in light of the coronavirus outbreak to better protect global health and security. pic.twitter.com/dogp9EvOCR

                                — Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) January 31, 2020

“The relationship between the United States and Taiwan is a partnership between two vibrant democracies based on shared values and vision,” wrote Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner in which he argued for U.S. assistance to Taiwan in trade and defense.
The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

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.”

'This is a plea for democracy': Hong Kong protest leaders urge US lawmakers to take action

Joshua Wong, Denise Ho testify before US congressmen, call for passage of Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act

By Micah McCartney

Joshua Wong testifies in Washington D.C. Sept. 17 (Taken from Congressional-Executive Commission on China livestream)

Denise Ho (From Congressional-Executive Commission on China livestream)

TAIPEI — Pro-democracy Hong Kong activists Joshua Wong and Denise Ho testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday (Sept. 17), pleading with lawmakers to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would impose consequences on China in the case of a brutal crackdown and further erosion of the city's autonomy.
Two of the most visible faces of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, Joshua Wong and Cantonese pop star Denise Ho, met a bipartisan group of U.S. congressmen on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. They spoke out about the deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong and lobbied for the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.
The hearing, entitled "Hong Kong's Summer of Discontent and U.S. Policy Responses," was held by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and presided over by Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).
In his opening remarks, McGovern lauded Hongkongers as an inspiration to the world for risking their education, jobs, and even lives in the tireless resistance. 

Condemning Hong Kong authorities' vicious response to the protests, he asserted that U.S. companies should not be abetting police's use of excessive force by exporting crowd-control equipment such as tear gas, a position reflected in the Protect Hong Kong Act he and Rep. Smith jointly authored.
Senator Rubio, a co-sponsor of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, called the protests "one of the greatest people power movements we have witnessed in recent memory." 

He went on slam Hong Kong Chief Executive Lam over her refusal to heed millions of Hongkongers and singled out brutal acts of violence that police either perpetrated or were complicit in through inaction.
Rubio expressed outraged over reports of police officers spraying pepper spray onto the head wound of a downed protester. 

The senator also mentioned the pro-Beijing thugs who have since July been indiscriminately attacking the city's residents while police stood by and did nothing.
According to Rubio, the preservation of the "one country, two systems" framework agreed to by China prior to Hong Kong's 1997 handover is important to American interests. 

He said a response to the erosion of this system was "long overdue," warning China that, "escalating aggression will lead [China] to face real consequences, not just from the United States but from the free world."

Representative Smith said that Hong Kong's people have put a spotlight on what he called "Beijing's pernicious, repressive behavior" and cited additional instances of China's human rights abuses and malign influence in Taiwan, Tibet, and East Turkestan colony. 

The congressman expressed incredulity over the opposition of U.S. diplomats, so-called "experts", and business leaders against substantive legislation against the communist regime.
Smith also stressed the importance of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would not only make Hong Kong's special economic status contingent on an annual State Department report on the state of Hong Kong's autonomy but would also require the president to sanction China and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights violations in the city.
In his statement to the lawmakers, Joshua Wong remarked that instead of "one country, two systems," the semi-autonomous region is fast approaching a reality of "one country, one system."
The 22-year-old Demosisto leader praised the Protect Hong Kong Act and noted that most of the tear gas, bean bag rounds, and other equipment used by Hong Kong police had been imported from Western democratic states. 

Companies should not benefit from the crackdown on Hong Kong people, said Wong.
As for Hong Kong's special financial status, Wong said, "Beijing should not have it both ways – ​​​​​​​ reaping all the economic benefits of Hong Kong's standing in the world while [eroding] our freedom." 

He then called on Congress to stand on the right side of "human rights and democracy."
Singer-turned-activist Denise Ho joined Wong in demanding swift action from the United States. 

Ho, herself blacklisted in China for her anti-CCP views, pointed to its no-tolerance policy toward dissent, with celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan under pressure to do lip service to "unanimous support" to the communist government in exchange for access to the Chinese market.
Ho warned that China is already exporting its brand of censorship to other countries. 

If Hong Kong is suppressed, she cautioned, it could "become a springboard" for the country to spread its agenda throughout the world.
"This is a plea for democracy," Ho urged. 

"This is a plea for the freedom to choose."

Joshua Wong is urging Trump to back the pro-democracy movement and prevent a nightmare for the world economy

• Joshua Wong says Trump is a businessman and should understand the consequences of a potential military crackdown on the East Asia global financial hub.
• Wong is set to meet with US lawmakers and testify before Congress on Tuesday about the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
• Hong Kong activists have three requests for the US government: pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, add a human-rights clause into US-China trade negotiations, and stop exporting riot weapons to Hong Kong's police force.

By Michelle Mark

In this Sept. 11, 2019 photo, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong addresses the media during a press conference in Berlin, Germany. Overseas, Joshua Wong has emerged as a prominent face of Hong Kong’s months-long protests for full democracy.

Pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong have arrived in the United States to urge Congress and Donald Trump to recognize that a potential military crackdown on the city will reverberate across the global economy.

Joshua Wong, one of the most prominent Hong Kong protesters, is meeting with lawmakers in Washington, DC and will testify before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China on Tuesday. 

He told Business Insider that he believes his message will resonate with Trump.
"Lots of people might not agree with him, but absolutely he's aware of the negative impact or the nightmare if Hong Kong's economy [breaks down] — it will affect the world economy," Wong said. "He's a businessman."
Though Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement has no official leaders, Wong has become one of the most recognizable public faces of activist efforts and has garnered international recognition for his role leading the 2014 Umbrella Movement.
Now, Wong says he's traveling to DC with three demands for the US government: pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, add a human-rights clause related to the Hong Kong protests into trade negotiations between the US and China, and stop exporting riot weapons to Hong Kong's police force.
Anti-government protesters are sprayed by water cannon during a demonstration near Central Government Complex in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019.

Wong says he wants the US to recognize how strong Hong Kong's role is as a global financial hub, and how severely a military crackdown similar to the Tiananmen Square massacre would echo around the world. 

Many activists have expressed fear that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam could issue an emergency ordinance that some have likened to imposing martial law.
"If the internet or air traffic of the financial center of the world shuts down, of course the world needs to have a say on it," he said. 

"Because it's not a crackdown on Hong Kong — but also the world economy."
Hong Kong protesters have been waving US flags and demanding Trump 'liberate' the city
Trump has taken a variety of stances on the Hong Kong protests, alternately appearing to side with China against what he called " riots," and urging Chinese dictator Xi Jinping to work out the Hong Kong issue "in a very humanitarian fashion."
Hong Kong protesters have seized on his more pro-democracy remarks and have begun asking the Trump administration to "liberate" the city.
Protesters carrying U.S. flags march on a street in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019.

Wong says he's aware that Trump has not appeared particularly concerned about human rights abuses in Hong Kong, but said the US government appears far more conscious of the situation than it did during the Umbrella Movement.
"Of course we know that President Trump prioritizes trade deals and business interests [as] far more important than human rights. But the fact is, [he] still pays more attention than the US administration demonstrated five years ago."
The Hong Kong demonstrations began earlier this summer, after the city's government began debating a controversial extradition bill that would have allowed authorities in mainland China to extradite Hong Kong residents for criminal trials.
Though Hong Kong's government has since withdrawn the bill after months of protests, activists said the move was " too little, too late," and would press on with their demands that Hong Kong investigates incidents of police brutality against protesters, releases imprisoned activists, and holds fully democratic elections.

US Lawmakers Rebuke Beijing’s Tough Words on Hong Kong Protests

BY CATHY HE AND EVA FU

As Beijing escalates its tough rhetoric in condemning Hong Kong protesters, U.S. lawmakers are raising the possibility of sanctions on China.
Hong Kong mass protests have entered their third month as locals continue to call for the withdrawal of a bill that would allow the Chinese regime to transfer individuals to the mainland to face trial in its opaque legal system.
Many fear that the bill would signal the erosion of the city’s autonomy, which was promised by Beijing upon its transfer of sovereignty from Britain in 1997.

In recent weeks, protesters’ relentless rallies and marches—often contained by local police firing tear gas, rubber bullets, and sponge grenades at crowds—in addition to an organized strike on Aug. 5 that paralyzed the city after thousands took leave from work, have drawn the ire of Beijing.

This photo taken on Aug. 6, 2019 shows Chinese paramilitary police officers taking part in a drill in Shenzhen in China’s southern Guangdong province, across the border from Hong Kong.

During an Aug. 7 symposium held in Shenzhen city by the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and the Liaison Office, Beijing’s representative office in the territory, a senior official called the Hong Kong protests “a color revolution” that needed to be quelled, using a term that refers to popular uprisings in former Soviet countries.
“It is now a ‘life-or-death’ fight for the very future of Hong Kong. … There is no room for retreat,” said Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. 

Shenzhen, in southern China, is just across the border from Hong Kong.
He warned that Beijing authorities have “ample methods” and “sufficient strength” to “promptly settle any possible turmoil.”
His words were the Chinese regime’s latest hint about using force to suppress the protests.
The Chinese military’s garrison in Hong Kong released a video on July 31 of troops participating in an “anti-riot” exercise, firing at an unarmed group of people. 

A soldier is seen holding a banner with the words “Warning, stop charging or we use force,” similar to what Hong Kong police have used during protests.
On Aug. 6, more than 12,000 police officers gathered for a drill in Shenzhen to “maintain national political security and social stability.” 

The video footage was posted onto the Shenzhen police’s official Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, showing police in riot gear clashing with civilians dressed in black shirts and yellow construction helmets—the trademark attire of Hong Kong demonstrators.
Asked by a reporter at an Aug. 6 press briefing whether Beijing would deploy troops to “control” the Hong Kong protests, Yang Guang, spokesperson for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, did not give a straight answer, but said that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is “a strong force that defends every inch of its sacred territory.”
Gordon G. Chang, China expert and author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” told The Epoch Times in an Aug. 5 interview that deploying troops would be a last resort for the Chinese leadership.
“Hong Kong is not armored-car country,” Chang said.
“The PLA … and the People’s Armed Police would be in a quagmire [if they were deployed], because you’ve got kids [protesters] who are willing to die. This would be an awful situation—horrific.”
He said the communist regime may quell protests with force if it believed that “the Hong Kong protests [were] creating a contagion, inspiring people in the mainland to protest.”
Chinese dictator Xi Jinping may choose this route “if he feels the existence of the Communist Party is at stake,” Chang said.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) at a border security discussion hosted by Center for Immigration Studies in Washington on July 30, 2019. 

US Response
U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said that “the United States will be compelled to reassess our relationship with China in fundamental ways” should the Chinese regime choose to respond to the Hong Kong protests with military force.
“The Tiananmen Square massacre highlighted the Chinese Communist Party’s brutality and treachery, which they have employed for thirty years to steal our jobs and threaten our security,” the senator said in a statement, referring to Beijing’s decision to send troops to suppress student protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989, where thousands were killed.
“If Beijing cracks down on Hong Kong, the United States ought not make the same mistake again.”
He said that should the Chinese regime impose martial law on the city, the U.S. government should be prepared to respond in six ways: 

1. halt trade negotiations with China; 
2. sanction senior Chinese Communist Party officials; 
3. bar Party leaders and their families from entering the United States; 
4. curtail student visas for Chinese nationals; 
5. demand the expulsion of Chinese officials from leadership positions in international organizations; and 
6. revise U.S. legislation that grants Hong Kong special trading privileges.

Tom Cotton
✔@SenTomCotton
Aug 7, 2019
The Chinese Communist Party is preparing for a violent crack-down on civilian protestors in Hong Kong. If Beijing imposes martial law in Hong Kong, there must be serious consequences.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3021597/chinese-police-mass-12000-anti-riot-officers-shenzhen-drill …

Chinese police mass 12,000 anti-riot officers in Shenzhen for drill
Security forces shown in live broadcast tackling ‘demonstrators’ who wear Hong Kong-style garb – ‘anti-mob’ tactics are in readiness for the 70th anniversary of People’s Republic.scmp.com


Tom Cotton
✔@SenTomCotton
Tiananmen Square was just 30 years ago. America didn’t respond strongly enough when peaceful protesters were gunned down and run over by Chinese tanks. We won’t make the same mistake if the CCP moves against Hong Kong.

https://www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1192 …

Cotton Warns Chinese Communists Against Intervening in Hong Kong Protestscotton.senate.gov
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1:00 AM - Aug 7, 2019
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China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, at a regular press briefing on Aug. 7, slammed Cotton and other U.S. politicians, questioning the lawmakers’ “true intentions behind the Hong Kong issue.”

She responded similarly to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comments in support of the protesters.
Pelosi said in an Aug. 6 statement, “The people of Hong Kong deserve the true autonomy that was promised, with the full rights guaranteed by the Hong Kong Basic Law [the city’s constitution] and international agreements.”Protestors stand off against riot police after a student’s arrest at Sham Shui Po district on Aug. 6, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. 

Travel Warnings
On Aug. 7 evening, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for Hong Kong, warning travelers to “exercise increased caution” due to civil unrest.
It warned that some protests have “turned confrontational or resulted in violent clashes,” sometimes spilling into neighborhoods outside of planned demonstrations.
Australia also issued a travel warning for Hong Kong on Aug. 7, saying people should “exercise a high degree of caution.”
“There is a risk of violent confrontation between protesters and police, or criminally linked individuals, particularly at unauthorized protests,” said Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in the advisory.
Britain, Japan, Ireland, and Singapore have issued similar travel warnings since July.
The travel advisory came after Hong Kong police clashed on Aug. 6 with hundreds of protesters in the district of Sham Shui Po. 

Locals had gathered outside the nearby police station to protest the police’s arrest of a local university student union leader.
Police said the Hong Kong Baptist University student was detained on suspicion of possessing offensive weapons—10 laser pointers. 

The university’s student union, in a Facebook post, accused the police of fabricating the charges in order to arrest people arbitrarily and called for the student leader’s immediate release.
Australia’s DFAT said protests had become more unpredictable and were expected to continue. 

The advisory strongly recommended that travelers avoid large public gatherings, adding that the risk was greater at night and on weekends.
Hong Kong police have arrested 568 people and fired around 1,800 tear gas canisters since mass protests began in June, according to an Aug. 6 police briefing.

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.

China's Final Solution

Trump has taken no meaningful action over China's horrible treatment of Muslims

By James Griffiths

Uyghur refugee describes horror inside Chinese camps.

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers said the Trump administration's response to China's abuses of the largest Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority in East Turkestan was inadequate and urged it to hold Beijing to account.
"The administration has taken no meaningful action in response to the situation in East Turkestan," lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, four months after they originally called on him to take action on this issue.
CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment.
As many as two million Uyghurs are estimated to have been imprisoned in huge detention centers in China's far west, according to a US government report.
The human rights crisis in East Turkestan has drawn increasingly harsh criticism from across the world. At a UN hearing in November, more than a dozen countries called on Beijing to end its "arbitrary detention" of Uyghurs.
A former detainee told CNN she witnessed abuse and torture, and lost one of her sons during her time in the camps.
Beijing has repeatedly denied it is detaining Uyghurs against their will, calling the camps "vocational training centers" and suggesting they are providing education.
In their letter Monday, the US lawmakers, led by House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, said that "over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities have been interned in 'political re-education camps' without due process as part of a broader attempt to wipe out their separate identity, language, and history."
"Global responses to these abuses have been insufficient. Of particular concern are reports of US companies that may be contributing to Beijing's persecution of Uyghurs through their support or commercial ties to Hikvision and Dahua -- two Chinese tech giants that have profited from the surge of security spending in East Turkestan," the letter added.
It also pointed to plans by Frontier Services Group, a Hong Kong-based company that counts former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince among its investors, to build a "training center" in East Turkestan.
"These examples demonstrate not just the need to increase public awareness of human rights issues in (East Turkestan), but also impose consequences on PRC officials responsible and those who enable their abuses," the letter said. 

"Rhetoric without action will only embolden Beijing."
Lawmakers requested information on whether the US monitors the use of American technology in facilitating the surveillance and detention of Muslim minorities in East Turkestan, and details of "any US companies that are providing technology transfers, sales, or security training for Chinese government officials or closely associated entities that operate in the East Turkestan colony."
They also called on the Trump administration to reveal its plans, either unilaterally or with allies, for "holding Beijing accountable."
The letter comes as Beijing is facing a growing global backlash over the situation in East Turkestan, as reports of abuses stack up. 

Last month, Turkey -- which has a large Uyghur population -- said the detention camps were a "great shame for humanity."
In a strongly-worded statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said hundreds of thousands of prisoners were subject to "torture and political brainwashing" in China's camps, and called on the UN and the international community "to take effective measures in order to bring to an end this human tragedy in East Turkestan."
Lawmakers in Indonesia and Malaysia have also expressed alarm over the alleged abuses in East Turkestan, and called for a full accounting of the "re-education camp" system.

US lawmakers urge Canada to snub China’s Huawei from 5G network out of grave concerns over US security

Huawei equipment in Canada’s 5G networks would pose dangers for US networks
Reuters

Senator Marco Rubio

Two leading US lawmakers urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday to consider dropping China’s Huawei Technologies from helping to build next-generation 5G telecommunications networks.
Senators Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said they had grave concerns about the prospects of Huawei equipment in Canada’s 5G networks on the grounds that it would pose dangers for US networks.
“While Canada has strong telecommunications security safeguards in place, we have serious concerns that such safeguards are inadequate given what the United States and other allies know about Huawei,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Trudeau. 

Warner and Rubio are on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Senator Mark Warner

A spokesman for Huawei did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
Huawei’s chips and equipment have faced scepticism in a number of developed countries, with Australia saying in August that it would ban Huawei technology from its 5G network.

Chinese Espionage

US lawmakers urge AT&T to cut commercial ties with Huawei

Reuters

U.S. lawmakers are urging AT&T, the No. 2 wireless carrier, to cut all commercial ties to Chinese phone maker Huawei Technologies and oppose plans by telecom operator China Mobile to enter the U.S. market because of national security concerns, said two congressional aides.
The warning comes after the administration of President Donald Trump took a harder line on policies initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing's role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire U.S. strategic industries.
Earlier this month, AT&T was forced to scrap a plan to offer its customers Huawei handsets after members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators, sources told
Reuters.
The U.S. government has also blocked a string of Chinese acquisitions over national security concerns, including Ant Financial's proposed purchase of U.S. money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc.
The lawmakers are also advising U.S. companies that if they have ties to Huawei or China Mobile, it could hamper their ability to do business with the U.S. government.
One of the commercial ties senators and House members want AT&T to cut is its collaboration with Huawei over standards for the high-speed next generation 5G network, the aides said.
Another is the use of Huawei handsets by AT&T's discount subsidiary Cricket, the aides said.
China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile phone operator, did not respond to requests for comment.
AT&T declined to comment but said that it had made no decisions on 5G suppliers. 

U.S. lawmakers who have in the past expressed concerns about the prospect of the deal between AT&T and Huawei either declined to comment or were not immediately available.
Huawei declined to comment.
National security experts fear that any data from a Huawei device, for example about the location of the phone's user, would be available to Chinese government intelligence services.
In 2012, Huawei and ZTE were the subject of a U.S. investigation into whether their equipment provided an opportunity for foreign espionage and threatened critical U.S. infrastructure.
"The next wave of wireless communication has enormous economic and national security implications. China's participation in setting the standards and selling the equipment raises many national security issues that demand strict and prompt attention," said Michael Wessel, a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which was set up by Congress.
U.S. lawmakers do not want China Mobile to be given a license to do business in the United States.

China Mobile applied for the license in 2011, and the application is pending before the Federal Communications Commission.
Huawei and Chinese telecom firms have long struggled to gain a toehold in the U.S. market, partly because of U.S. government pressure on potential U.S. partners.
Two Republican lawmakers, Representatives Michael Conaway and Liz Cheney, introduced a bill this week that bars the U.S. government from using or contracting with Huawei or ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications and equipment and systems company.