Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Politics

Beijings Treatment of Hong Kong Displays Its Ambitions in Asia, Hawley Says

WASHINGTON—Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said on Nov. 12 that the situation in Hong Kong displays Beijing..

WASHINGTON—Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said on Nov. 12 that the situation in Hong Kong displays Beijings real intention, which is to push the United States out of the Indo-Pacific region, and that current U.S. foreign policy is inadequate to address the “dangers at hand.”

Speaking at the Center for a New American Security, a bipartisan think tank, Hawley called for a change in foreign policy approach in light of a new era of competition with China.

“Chinas bid for domination is the greatest security threat to this country in this century, and our foreign policy around the globe must be oriented to this challenge and focused principally on this threat,” he said.

The youngest member of the U.S. Senate said the Chinese Communist Partys response to the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests shows clearly “what Beijing is capable of, what Beijings intentions are.”

“First Hong Kong, then Taiwan, then the whole region,” he said, adding that the Chinese regime “has already been telegraphing” that it wants “to shut us out of the region.”

Chinese domination is a direct threat to U.S. national security and prosperity, Hawley said.

“The Indo-Pacific is a region that is absolutely vital to us. We have to be able to trade in that region. We have to be able to have access to that region on free and equal terms,” he said, noting the importance of the region for the “prosperity of our middle and working class.”

He argued that U.S. foreign policy should address the new challenge and “make sure China does not become an imperial power that dominates the region and the international system.”

Berlin of This Generation

The freshman senator visited Hong Kong last month and spoke with activists on the street. After his trip, he introduced the “Hong Kong Be Water Act,” together with Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas), calling for the use of the Global Magnitsky Act to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for suppressing freedoms in the city.

“I do think that Hong Kong is the Berlin of this generation, in the sense that it captures and makes vivid the struggle that this generation is going to have, which is with an increasingly martial and expansionist China,” Hawley said. “And thats what were seeing play out in Hong Kong.”

The House on Oct. 15 unanimously passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The bill would require the U.S. government to conduct an annual review as to whether Hong Kong is “sufficiently autonomous” from mainland China to retain its special trading privileges with the United States.

The Senate hasnt yet passed its version of the bill.

“I dont know why were not voting on the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,” Hawley said. “I hope that well vote this week.”

Since June, mass protests have erupted on Hong Kong streets over fear that a now-withdrawn extradition bill would lead the Chinese Communist Party to expand its influence in the city. The demonstrations have since evolved into a movement advocating for universal suffrage and greater freedoms.

Hawley has been an outspoken critic Read More – Source

Finance

In an interview with ET Now, Dabur India Director Mohit Burm..

Science

The 147th Open championship will be at Carnoustie Golf Club in Scotland. Jan Kruger/R&A Golfers ..

Tech

Enlarge Oliver Morris/Getty Images) In response to an Ars re..

Tech

Enlarge/ You wouldn't really want to use Nvidia's ..