Hong Kong Uprising

Hong Kong "justice" secretary ambushed by pro-democracy protesters in London

Agence France-Presse

China on Friday condemned an incident in which Hong Kong's justice secretary was jostled by masked demonstrators in London, and accused Britain of fuelling pro-democracy unrest.
Teresa Cheng, Hong Kong's deeply unpopular Secretary for Justice, fell while being surrounded by a crowd of jeering pro-democracy protesters as she prepared to attend a speaking event on Thursday night in London.
She regained her feet moments later and was escorted away with no visible signs of injury in video footage of the incident.

But China called it an "appalling attack" and has demanded that Britain offer security protection to the Hong Kong minister.

Former colonial ruler Britain, which handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, has urged Beijing and Hong Kong to seek a political solution for protesters and condemned the escalating violence on both sides.
Cheng is in London on a visit to promote Hong Kong's role as a dispute resolution and deal-making hub.
She is one of the most unpopular government officials in Hong Kong, seen as playing a key role in pushing forward the now-shelved extradition bill to China, which sparked the ongoing unrest.

US senators push for vote on Hong Kong rights bill as police violence rises

• The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Tuesday he wanted the Senate to pass legislation to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
• Republican Senator Jim Risch noted that he is a co-sponsor and strong proponent of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would place Hong Kong’s special treatment by the United States under tighter scrutiny.

Reuters

Hong Kong protesters call for US lawmakers to pass human rights bill.

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Tuesday he wanted the Senate to pass legislation to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, as violence rose in the Chinese-ruled city rocked by months of unrest.
Republican Senator Jim Risch noted that he is a co-sponsor and “strong proponent” of the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,” which would place Hong Kong’s special treatment by the United States under tighter scrutiny.
“We want it moved,” Risch said during a discussion on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill in mid-October.
Risch’s Foreign Relations committee approved a similar measure in September, but it has not been scheduled for a vote by the full Senate, which must pass the bill before it can be sent to President Donald Trump.

The world needs to see that the United States will stand up and say this is wrong, we stand with the people of Hong Kong.                                         

Sen. Jim Risch, CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS

The White House, which is engaged in intense trade negotiations with China, has yet to say whether he would sign or veto it.

Police in Hong Kong battled pro-democracy protesters at several university campuses on Tuesday in sometimes savage clashes, as parts of the city were paralyzed including Hong Kong’s financial district, which was tear-gassed for a second day running.
Those flare-ups occurred a day after police shot an unarmed protester at close range.

Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, and James Risch, R-Idaho, attend the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing of Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson in Dirksen Building, January 11, 2017.

Risch and fellow Republican Senator Marco Rubio are to meet on Wednesday with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss the possibility of getting floor time for a vote on the bill, aides said.
“The world needs to see that the United States will stand up and say this is wrong, we stand with the people of Hong Kong,” Risch said.
Asked of McConnell would allow a vote in the Senate, a spokesman pointed to his remarks in the Senate on Tuesday expressing concern about the violence.
“I’m eager to continue working with colleagues such as Senator Risch, Senator (Lindsey) Graham, Senator Rubio, and others toward a strong and procedurally workable solution,” McConnell said.
The legislation has 37 Republican and Democratic co-sponsors in the 100-member Senate. 

Backers say it is expected to pass easily if McConnell schedules a vote.

Gen. Mattis says China's crackdown on Hong Kong protesters is a sign of China's dangerous ambitions

• Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis warned that China's treatment of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong shows what the totalitarian regime is capable of.
• "Watching what's going on in Hong Kong right now, their authoritarian mode against their own people... it would take a real stretch of imagination to say they would treat foreigners better than they treat their own people at home, if that's their world view," Mattis said, while also calling out China's actions in the Spratly Islands and Sri Lanka.

By Ellen Ioanes

Retired Gen. Jim Mattis, whose resignation sent shockwaves through the US military and its allies last year, opted to answer questions about political leaders like President Trump obliquely at a Tuesday think tank event. 

But he wasn't so tightlipped on another topic: China.
Mattis called out Beijing's treatment of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters as a signal of what China is capable of.
"Watching what's going on in Hong Kong right now, their authoritarian mode against their own people...it would take a real stretch of imagination to say they would treat foreigners better than they treat their own people at home, if that's their world view," Mattis said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
The Pentagon increasingly views China as the US's number one rival. 

Mattis recalled some of China's recent aggressions, namely its 2018 move to place weapons on the disputed Spratly Islands, despite Xi Jinping's promises to the contrary, and China's seizure of a Sri Lankan port the previous year to repay the loans China gave Sri Lanka to finance the port through its Belt and Road initiative.
"In the national defense strategy we'd call them a competitor," he said. 

"And what we're trying for is not great power deterrence, we're trying for great power peace."

"We can find a way to work with China, but we're going to have to confront China where they are interrupting the universal... the order of the world."
He saved his strongest criticism for China's actions in Hong Kong during the semi-autonomous territory's three-month-long pro-democracy protests.
"There are ways that China is working right now that we can no longer be deluded by our own desires, we are going to have to accept China as it is," Mattis said.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army has sent troops to Shenzhen, a city bordering Hong Kong, as a way to threaten the island with military intervention if protests continue, and recently drove military transport vehicles onto the island.
While the protests initially concerned a bill that proposed to send Hong Kongers charged with major crimes to the mainland for trial, they soon spiraled into broader demands for democratic reforms. 

As protests have continued, they have gotten increasingly violent, with Hong Kong police brandishing guns at protesters. 

China has also detained a Hong Kong resident on the mainland and waged a massive propaganda campaign against the protesters.
"So we're going to have to recognize it, cooperate where we can, collaborate where we can, and also confront where we must," Mattis concluded, without going into specifics about what that might look like militarily.
Mattis is the author of "Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead," a memoir of his four decades in the Marine Corps.
At the talk, Mattis' greatest concerns were about the state of America; he previously expressed dismay at the politically divided nature of the country. 

In concluding Tuesday's discussion, Mattis said, "I'm not convinced that we're turning [the US] over in as good a shape or better to the younger generation ... and that worries me."

Xi's Bluff

A Tiananmen Solution in Hong Kong? No Way

Chinese Communists may loathe the idea of making concessions to the Hong Kong protesters, but considering the catastrophic consequences of a military crackdown, that is what they will do.
By MINXIN PEI


WASHINGTON, DC – The crisis in Hong Kong appears to be careening toward a devastating climax. 

With China’s government now using rhetoric reminiscent of that which preceded the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters – and, indeed, its democracy – could well be in grave danger.
For more than two months, Hong Kong has been beset by protests. 

Triggered by a proposed law to allow the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China, the demonstrations have since developed into broader calls to safeguard – or, perhaps more accurately, restore – the semi-autonomous territory’s democracy, including by strengthening state (especially police) accountability.
As the unrest drags on, the Chinese government’s patience is wearing thin – and its warnings are growing more ominous. 

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison in Hong Kong is, in the words of its commander Chen Daoxiang, “determined to protect national sovereignty, security, stability, and the prosperity of Hong Kong.” 

To drive the point home, a promotional video showing Chinese military officers in action was released along with the statement.
Yang Guang, a spokesperson for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, has echoed this sentiment, warning the protesters – whom he calls “criminals” – not to “take restraint for weakness.” 

He then reiterated the government’s “firm resolve” to “safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.”
Zhang Xiaoming, the director of the office, then took matters a step further, declaring that China’s government “has sufficient methods and enough powerful means to quell all sorts of likely unrest (dongluan).” 

This came just two months after China’s defense minister argued that China’s stability since the Tiananmen crackdown proved that the government had made the “correct” choice.
Increasingly harsh warnings against Hong Kong’s protesters point not just to a hardening of positions, but also to the ascendance of figures in the Chinese government who favor asserting total control over the territory. 

And they have been reflected in the response from the police, which has been deploying rubber bullets and tear gas with rising frequency. 

Hundreds have been arrested, and 44 have been charged with “rioting.”
Yet, far from being deterred, the protesters are challenging the Chinese government with increasing resolve. 

In July, they vandalized the outside of the Chinese government’s liaison office in the city center. 

Last week, they mounted a general strike that nearly paralyzed the city, one of Asia’s most important commercial hubs. 

Perhaps counter-intuitively, this radicalization has come alongside broadening support for the movement, with members of the middle class – such as lawyers and civil servants – openly joining the cause.
With their stark warnings having no effect, China’s leaders may well be sensing that the best – or even the only – way to restore their authority in Hong Kong is by force, though Xi Jinping may wait until after the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1 to act. 

But, whether now or in two months, a Tiananmen-style crackdown is not the answer.
For starters, Hong Kong’s 31,000-strong police force is not up to the task of carrying out such a crackdown. 

Not only does it lack the manpower; its officers may refuse to use deadly force. 

After all, there is a big difference between firing rubber bullets at a crowd and murdering civilians. 

This means that China would have to deploy the local PLA garrison or transfer tens of thousands of paramilitary soldiers (the People’s Armed Police) from the mainland.
Hong Kong’s residents would almost certainly treat Chinese government forces as invaders, and mount the fiercest possible resistance. 

The resulting clashes – which would likely produce high numbers of civilian casualties – would mark the official end of the “one country, two systems” arrangement, with China’s government forced to assert direct and full control over Hong Kong’s administration.
With the Hong Kong government’s legitimacy destroyed, the city would instantly become ungovernable. 

Civil servants would quit their jobs in droves, and the public would continue to resist. 

Hong Kong’s complex transit, communications, and logistics systems would prove easy targets for defiant locals determined to cause major disruptions.
After the Tiananmen crackdown, the Communist Party of China’s ability to reinstitute control rested not only on the presence of tens of thousands of PLA troops, but also on the mobilization of the Party’s members. 

In Hong Kong, where the CPC has only a limited organizational presence (officially, it claims to have none at all), this would be impossible. 

And because the vast majority of Hong Kong’s residents are employed by private businesses, China cannot control them as easily as mainlanders who depend on the state for their livelihoods.
The economic consequences of such an approach would be dire. 

Some CPC leaders may think that Hong Kong, which now accounts for only 3% of Chinese GDP, is economically expendable. 

But the city’s world-class legal and logistical services and sophisticated financial markets, which channel foreign capital into China, mean that its value vastly exceeds its output.
If Chinese soldiers storm the city, an immediate exodus of expats and elites with foreign passports and green cards will follow, and Western businesses will relocate en masse to other Asian commercial hubs. 

Hong Kong’s economy – a critical bridge between China and the rest of the world – would almost instantly collapse.
When there are no good options, leaders must choose the least bad one. 

Chinese Communists may loathe the idea of making concessions to the Hong Kong protesters, but considering the catastrophic consequences of a military crackdown, that is what they will do.