Congress and Hong Kong: How We Can Aid in Hong Kong's Fight For Democracy

In the past few weeks, Hong Kong has been experiencing an intense amount of protest and civil unrest. Protest and riots have been an almost daily part of the lives of those who live in Hong Kong. All of these protests originated from a proposed law by the Hong Kong government, known as the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation. This bill would have “allowed the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong lacks an extradition, including mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau”. (South China Morning Post 2019) The original protests were centered around concerns that criminals would be given unjust trials by the Chinese government. The protests evolved into a demand for freedom and greater democratic rights from their own government and the Chinese government as well. The Chinese government has continued to exercise as much control over Hong Kong as possible while the majority of Hong Kong’s population wishes to be free of Chinese control. Recently, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, announced that “the government was scrapping the bill in order to fully allay public concerns”. (Independent 2019) However, the protests have not stopped because the protest movement continues to implore that all of their demands be met. These protests are attracting global attention and now they have reached the United States Congress.

As of this week, the protest movement in Hong Kong has issued a plea to the United States government that they put pressure on the Chinese government in Beijing to meet the protesters’ demands. The main demands for the protest movement are “withdraw the bill, for leader Carrie Lam to step down, an inquiry into police brutality, for those who have been arrested to be released, and greater democratic freedoms”. (CNN 2019) Protestors have been in conflict with police forces on a constant basis, with some of their clashes having led to significant injuries to protestors. These protestors have stormed the Hong Kong legislature and the Hong Kong airport, disrupting all air travel to and from the region. While the original extradition bill has been withdrawn, the protestors have been unable to achieve their remaining goals. This is where the United States Congress comes into the picture

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There are two pieces of legislation that Congress is currently considering regarding the Hong Kong protest movement. First, the PROTECT Hong Kong Act would “prohibit U.S. exports of police equipment to Hong Kong, including tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and more”. (ABC News) This bill has been written by Congressional Executive Commission on China’s chairman, Democrat Representative James McGovern. Also, this bill has bipartisanship support in both chambers of Congress, so it should be passed in the near future. Second, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 would “direct the president to sanction those who suppress basic freedoms in Hong Kong”. (NBC News) This has bipartisanship in both chambers of Congress as well. Both of these bills seem to be well on their way towards passage by Congress.

The one wild card in this situation is President Trump. Trump and his administration has taken a hardline approach against China and its President, Xi Jinping. Trump’s primary goal seems to be take down of China’s economic power, thus putting the United States at the top of the global super powers. However, the situation in Hong Kong make or break Trump’s mission to topple China’s power in the Asian Pacific as well as the world itself. The government in Beijing does not seem at all willing to relent to all of the demands of the protestors. We have seen what extent the Chinese government will go to crush protest against their regime as seen in 1989 in Tiananmen Square. While this situation in Hong Kong will hopefully not end in a hail of Chinese gunfire, it is impossible to rule this out as a possibility. Trump will have to decide how he will enforce these bills once they are likely passed by Congress. These bills might prove to be ineffective to combatting the Chinese leadership simply because the possible economic hit on the Chinese economy would have little to no effect on their power. Their communist regime controls every aspect of Chinese society and President Xi will never have to worry about reelection since he is President for life. Multilateral action from the US and its allies will have to occur in order to properly pressure China to bend to the protestors’ demands. Congress’ proposed bills are a solid first step in supporting Hong Kong’s fight for democracy but it remains to be seen if they will be at all effective.

Sources

Adam Withnall Asia Editor @adamwithnall. (2019, September 4). Hong Kong withdraws extradition bill as China bows to protesters. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/hong-kong-extradition-bill-china-carrie-lam-protests-latest-a9090966.html

Finnegan, C. (2019, September 17). Congress weighs legislation to support Hong Kong protests, with local activists urging action. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/congress-weighs-legislation-support-hong-kong-protests-local/story?id=65663807

Fuchs, C. (2019, September 16). Activist Joshua Wong brings Hong Kong fight to U.S. with upcoming congressional testimony. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/activist-joshua-wong-brings-hong-kong-fight-u-s-upcoming-n1054971

Hong Kong extradition law. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/topics/hong-kong-extradition-law

John, T. (2019, August 30). Why Hong Kong is protesting. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/asia/hong-kong-airport-protest-explained-hnk-intl/index.html

Uri Friedman, T. M. L. (2019, September 15). The U.S. Is About to Do Something Big on Hong Kong. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/americas-role-hong-kong/597976/