"The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act" Dennis Kwok

"We also explained in detail to the US lawmakers the kind of massive arrests and excessive use of force by our police force, which resulted in the apprehension of a large number of innocent civilians and left quite a number of protesters severely injured.

We also talked about the inhumane treatment to which some of the arrested protesters were allegedly subjected and the “white terror” imposed by the central government on certain business corporations such as Cathay Pacific Airways, where a number of employees, including pilots and a flight attendant, were sacked over incidents related to the anti-extradition bill protests.

Both Republican and Democratic members of the US Congress are pushing for the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.

One of the most important provisions of the bill is that HKSAR government officials who are found suppressing Hong Kong’s democracy, human rights or citizens’ freedoms could have their assets in the US frozen and be denied entry to the US.

We agree that the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act through the US Congress will help in our citizens’ fight for democracy and in defending our human rights and freedoms."  Dennis Kwok

--------------

"Give me liberty or give me death?"  This sounds like that sentiment.

Would such an Act do anything material for Hong Kong?  Probably not.  Trump says that he hopes the CCP will settle the HK matter in a "humane way."  IOW he doesn't intend to do anything except use the HK crisis as leverage in his extended bargaining with China.

OTOH, this Act would do a lot for the conscience of the people of the US.  We need to do something that is actually selfless since we seem to have lost the knack for standing up for the "little people" in places like Yemen and Palestine against tyranny.

If such an Act were passed (probably over Trump's opposition) or maybe not since he claims to not give a damn about trade with China, then Canada should follow our lead in this.  British Columbia is packed full of mainland Chinese who have stashed their wealth there and who look forward to taking refuge in Victoria and/or Vancouver.

Palmerston, that mean old bastard, said that countries do not have friends.  They merely have interests.  Well, maybe so, but I would say that such an Act would be in our long term spiritual interest.  pl

http://www.ejinsight.com/20190902-the-hong-kong-human-rights-and-democracy-act/

Comments

[Babak Makkinejad]

I oppose the abuse of the ideas and ideals of the Enlightenment Tradition, Liberty, Respresentative Government, and the Rule of Law to attack sovereign states.

[Babak Makkinejad]

UK, during the Constitutional Movement in Iran in 1904-1905, aided the revolutionaries and stood by the principles of the Self-Rule and Governance.

USA never did so in Iran but she always talked a good talk.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Are you mad? Do you want World War III, is that why you advocate independent Taiwan?

[Pacifica Advocate]

It's not our country, so it's none of our business.

[blue peacock]

Babak,

Isn't the Iranian theocracy attempting to be the beacon for all Muslims as you have said in the past? Why then have they ignored the plight of 2+ million Muslim Uighurs who have been sent to concentration camps in Xinjiang for re-education by the Chinese communists? Realpolitik crushing principles? Hypocrisy?

[Babak Makkinejad]

Col. Lang

Hawza, in Iran, in Iraq, and elsewhere among the Shia has the virtue of providing a center of religious authority and thus acts as a check against the woa check against the worst impulses of religious anarchy, intances of which currently afflict Sunni Islam. The substantive debate is about Freedom in Islam. Which, just like in Judaism, lacks it. How can one amalgamate the Muslim notion of man being a Slave of God with the concept of the a Free Believer. No one, to my knowledge, has attempted to graft the ideas of Western Liberty - themselves derived from Roman Law, Germanic Tribes, and Christianity, organically into Islam. Appeals to the Enlightenment Tradition and its ideas and ideals lack utility as Turks, Arabs, Iranians, Pakistanis et ., are not Christian Europeans.

[Unhinged Citizen]

The Communist Part of China is a semi-criminal authoritarian regime that has hijacked 1.3 billion souls.

It does not need to be contained, but cauterized from this planet. And hitting their financial interests in British Columbia would be a welcome move here by any average, working Canadian, who have been priced right out of existence by billion of grey-market dollars flowing into the province from China.

Money which was obtained from the massive wealth transfer that stripped out US industry among others.

[different clue]

If it can reduce or eliminate the trading relationship between China and America, that can be a good thing if used as an opportunity to re-develop a multi-functional national-survival economy within America.

If it can lead to the destruction of the Free Trade Order all over the world, that is an even better thing.

[doug]

China's political and economic structure is quite different from that of the former USSR, Cuba, and NorKo. The Communist Party retains absolute control but has been fairly successful at unleashing the power of markets, enterprise, and the ability of people to get rich from their own work. This has disconcerted some classic Marxists who view China as Communist in name only. However, state control is absolute in major areas. It's a strange, but powerful and potentially dangerous country. Here's one Marxist's view.

http://www.marxist.com/china-socialist-market-economy200106.htm

[Walter]

Col, you R wrong on this one. The Chinese people are loving China, they are very nationalistic and proud of China. They, unlike Americans, are willing to sacrifice and endure hardship to “win” this trade war. If any Americannis inconvenienced by the trade war (farmers) they will scream and turn on Trump. Chinese love Xi. The HK protestors are many young people who are pissed off because they live in closets because HK has the most expensive real estate on earth and they cannot afford anything. American politicians are idiots and immoral. We should be happy that China is doing well and not regard every competitor as an enemy. The Chinese people are great people ; hard working capitalists. HK is on the way out. Have you visited China? It is far from communist. Our own government and media is far more dangerous to us than the Chinese.

[Jack]

Australian 60 Minutes show on the protests in HK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyyhYEXVYoA

US media have not got the scale of these protests by the youth in HK. They don’t want to be under the jackboot of the CCP. It is such a shame that so many here are turning their backs on these courageous young people fighting for freedom from communist tyranny.

Reuters got a recording of HK’s Beijing appointed Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaking to a business group recently.

Lam noted, however, that she had few options once an issue had been elevated “to a national level,” a reference to the leadership in Beijing, “to a sort of sovereignty and security level, let alone in the midst of this sort of unprecedented tension between the two big economies in the world.”

In such a situation, she added, “the room, the political room for the chief executive who, unfortunately, has to serve two masters by constitution, that is the central people’s government and the people of Hong Kong, that political room for maneuvering is very, very, very limited.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-carrielam-specialre-idUSKCN1VN1DU

[Mightypeon]

From what I get the Russians are busy taking notes, both in terms of protest tactics, in terms of counterportest tactics and in terms of media managing strategy.

Internally, PRC is utilizing that mainlanders and Hong Kongers dont get along that well, and that Hong Kongers have a history of being quite arrogant to mainlanders, in a way to bolster legitimicy at home.

The informed hot take in Russia is that the PRC will crush Hong Kong if it must, but would prefer to do so without destroying much real estate. There are also some concerns that Beijing overplays the American regime change angle in their communications with Russia, and underplays legitimate concerns and grievances of the protestors (Russians would, as a rule, prefer not to be extradicatable to mainland China, as PRC laws on basically everything tend towards the more severe even from a Russian standpoint). Ironically, the same was true the other way round during Maidan.

Russia is still going to back China because the PRC matters to Russia and Hong Kong fundamentally does not.

As far to how Russia sees China and the threat emmanating from it:
1: The Chinese are pretty cunning, have a long history (with sometimes gratitious cruelty and no, they cannot blame the mongols for becomning like that), and if they would go democratic it could well be Machete democracy. This is not going to change.

2: Chinas government is quite predictable, and plays mostly the same game as Russias which makes it even more predictable from Russias pov. The Russians are very fond of predictable actors.

3: China is, at the moment, unable to effectively vasallize either North Korea, Mongolia, various lesser (Kazakhstan is something else, and maintaining influence there is a first priority Russian task) Central Asian stans. It has issues with maintaining control over Xinjiang, Tibet and Honkong. It has not annexed Taiwan yet. Russian planners do not forsee any Chinese moves counter to 1rst priority Russian interests before China succesfully completeles the afromentioned tasks. Russian planners also believe that Chinas fullfillment of these tasks, especially annexing Taiwan, would massively increase tensions between the US and China. This could potentially put Moscow in the position of having better relations to Washington and Beijing then both have to each other (this nice position is currently in Beijings hands) and could, once this happen, negotiate with the USA on considerably better terms.

[David Martin]

AWESOME!!!! Nicely Explained... Thanks you guys!

[CK]

I did not see any value in Marx, Lenin, Engels or Trotsky however they were neither Russian nor Chinese. I see that we are in agreement on the Saudis. It is good to have a handy label to affix to others, non-interventionist would be my preferred pigeon hole.

[turcopolier]

All

This is a different Walter than the old one.

[BABAK MAKKINEJAD]

And what do you propose Iranians do in the middle of an Economic War? Pursue a suicidal policy of confronting China on the issue of Sunni Muslim citizens of the People's Republic of China?

Why don't the 1 billion Sunni Muslims do something about it?

Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Moroco, Algeria exert themselves on the behalf of fellow Sunnis in Kashmir, and in Shin-Kiang?

[turcopolier]

CK

Not a label. It is a descriptor.

[turcopolier]

Babak

Is the SAG "semi-sovereign" because it is allied to Iran and Russia?

[turcopolier]

jjackson

Ah, yes, First you misquote someone and then comment on that. The references to yemen and Palestine are exaples of the American prople having lost the ability to discern tyranny when it is evident. thgere are many other such examples.

[turcopolier]

PA

Are there any of our foreign wars that we were justified in? How about the Civil War in which the North invaded and conquered the South? And spare the pious dogma about slavery, which was already a doomed institution at the time of the Northern aggression.

[turcopolier]

Babak

You and I have always been in agreement in re the nature of Islam. Islam is like many other religions in that it denies freedom of thought to members of all sects, including whichever one a particular Muslim happens to belong to.

[BABAK MAKKINEJAD]

No. Germany is.

[BABAK MAKKINEJAD]

So, if I understand you correctly, you are complaining that the wily & crafty Chinese took advantage of your own government's policies in Canada - the policies that put money & finance above everything else and in many parts of Canada made the Canadians a minority in their own country?

And you are truly reflecting your nome de plume - Unhinged - when you speak of "cauterization" of 1.2 billion people; just how many tens of millions of Chinese are to die for this cauterization to take place.

You guys in Canada have a good country - those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

[BABAK MAKKINEJAD]

Not freedom of thought in itself - rather freedom of open expression of that thought - and not just on the subject of Islam itself or her laws and regulations.

In Turkey, certain comments about Turkic nationalism will get one murdered.

In the West there is a nexus of ideas and practices that developed over centuries - rooted in the soil of Europe - which - in my opinion - is impossible to transplant else where.

We have the rather sorry empirical evidence of the last 200 years - the only non-Western country which comes as a second to Western Diocletian states is the Russian Federation.

[Jack]

Appeasement is why we are here. Previous administrations and Congresses didn’t say or do anything as the CCP flouted every written agreement they made. They’ve thumbed their nose at every adverse WTO ruling despite Clinton giving them Most Favored Nation status and agreeing that they could be labeled a “developing country” at the WTO. We’re here at the tariff war precisely because Xi and the CCP politburo reneged on the deal that Lighthizer and Liu He negotiated over months. A deal that would have ended as Diego Parrilla called their “beggar thy neighbor benefits”.

CCP agreed to “One Country, Two Systems”. We see clearly what has happened in HK that they never had any intention to fulfill their agreement. It was just a ploy. Like their WTO ploy and their ploy of a Billion consumer Market. It was all deception. Their objective should be clear to even the most casual observer. They’ve played us and in the short-term greed of personal wealth for our elites the Deplorables and the country have been sold down the river.

Are we to stay silent in the face of ruthless oppression by the totalitarian CCP? Are we going to abandon the people of HK who are showing immense courage in the face of violence from the CCP? Are we going to abandon the democratic and pluralistic society the Taiwanese have built showing that the Chinese people can build and sustain open and free societies? All so that we don’t want to hurt the sensibilities of the totalitarian CCP who have shown they don’t care about the sensibilities of others?

I argue that the CCP is weak. Their financial system is a house of cards. And they don’t have the support domestically among the Chinese people as their fifth column here claim. The trade war is hurting them. Supply chains are reorienting. Food prices and shortages are escalating. Now is the time to stand up to their authoritarianism by ratcheting up the financial pressure. Sanctioning the CCP politburo and other top officials who have most of their wealth in the West. Ending US financing of CCP linked entities. Decoupling our banking system from theirs. And a clear warning that violent repression in HK has consequences including the recognition of Taiwan. CCP appeasement must end. We must recognize that CCP has been and continues to be our enemy. Every action of theirs over the past two decades shows they consider us their enemy. If we don’t act now we can be sure our children will have to fight a military war in the future when the CCP is even stronger.