{"id":22004,"date":"2019-11-26T22:37:36","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T14:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=22004"},"modified":"2019-11-27T07:46:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T23:46:41","slug":"us-congress-passes-hong-kong-democracy-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2019\/11\/26\/22004\/","title":{"rendered":"US Congress passes Hong Kong Democracy Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Apart from enraging Beijing what difference will the new law make?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Dahu, chinaworker.info<\/p>\n<p>The US Congress has now passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate on 20 November. This reflects the major shift in opinion in ruling US circles in past years \u2013 <em>against<\/em> China rather than <em>for<\/em> Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p>Many Hong Kongers are hopeful this legislation will give a boost to the struggle against the Chinese dictatorship. Unfortunately the reality is very different.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22005\" src=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/US-flags-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2019\/11\/US-flags-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2019\/11\/US-flags-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2019\/11\/US-flags-310x207.jpg 310w, https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2019\/11\/US-flags-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2019\/11\/US-flags.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In 2014 and thereafter, British colonial flags were often brought to demos in Hong Kong, mostly by localist (Hong Kong nationalist) youth. Nowadays these have been replaced by US flags because nobody now expects much from Britain. It\u2019s right-wing government has largely bent to the Chinese dictatorship\u2019s pressure because the British capitalists are desperate for business especially as they are set to leave the EU. But the US is a superpower, the thinking goes, so it can help Hong Kong? Here\u2019s why that is a cruel illusion:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trump is most interested in a trade deal with Xi Jinping, which he hopes will save his presidency. Since June\u2019s 1-2 million-strong demonstrations in Hong Kong, Trump and his representatives have agreed in talks with the Chinese side to downplay the Hong Kong issue. For Trump, the protesters are \u201crioters\u201d while Xi is \u201can incredible guy\u201d and his \u201cvery good friend\u201d. Under pressure from Congress in recent days, Trump was forced to say \u201cWe have to stand with Hong Kong\u201d but added, \u201cI am also standing with Xi Jinping\u201d. Even Trump\u2019s critics who complain about his lack of clear support for the Hong Kong protests are primarily concerned with projecting US power and its economic interests. \u201cBeing tough on China when it comes to human rights will also help us win the battle on trade,\u201d said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, one of the act\u2019s main sponsors.<\/li>\n<li>Trump may even refuse to sign the Hong Kong act into law as a concession to Xi. The Chinese regime has immediately called on Trump to use his veto and is clearly linking this to trade negotiations. It threatened \u201ccountermeasures\u201d if the act becomes law. More likely, Trump will sign it \u2013 or face accusations of weakness \u2013 but then just leave the law to gather dust in a cupboard. With desperate efforts by Washington to get a \u201cphase one\u201d (i.e. very weak) trade deal done before 15 December, when new tariffs are scheduled, it is very unlikely the law will be enforced in the short-term. Hence this is more about political theatre than anything concrete.<\/li>\n<li>Even if Trump puts the new law into effect its impact will be largely symbolic. It allows for Hong Kong officials deemed guilty of human rights abuses to be sanctioned \u2013 refused a visa to enter the USA or have assets in US banks frozen. This won\u2019t change the policies of the Chinese regime towards Hong Kong. But it will be used by Xi\u2019s regime to whip up nationalism in China against \u2018concessions\u2019 to China\u2019s enemies.<\/li>\n<li>Another provision of the act is to require annual assessments of Hong Kong\u2019s autonomy to determine whether it should continue to be treated differently in trade and economic terms from mainland China. This clause could open the way for the US government to revoke Hong Kong\u2019s trade privileges (it has separate membership of the WTO and is not directly targeted by Trump\u2019s tariffs against China). But this would be a \u201cnuclear option\u201d, seriously damaging the Chinese regime\u2019s economic interests but at the same time reducing its incentive to hold back from further cancelling Hong Kong\u2019s autonomy. The result could push Hong Kong further under the dictatorship\u2019s control, clearly not an outcome most people in Hong Kong want.<\/li>\n<li>The US Congress already passed similar legislation over the mass incarceration of Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims in China-controlled Xinjiang. This was passed amid considerable fanfare in the Senate in September but not much has happened since. This legislation allows the US political establishment to pose as defenders of democracy and human rights. In Xinjiang\u2019s case the aim is to improve the image of the US in the Muslim world, following decades of disastrous military incursions as part of the so-called war on terror, and Islamophobic policies such as Trump\u2019s failed travel ban in 2017 against people from seven Muslim-majority countries.<\/li>\n<li>Similar sanctions were imposed on Russia in 2014, and these have not changed the policies of Putin\u2019s regime. In fact if anything they have backfired on Western governments, boosting Putin\u2019s nationalist stance. Russia\u2019s military role in places like Syria has not been blunted. It has actually been strengthened by Trump\u2019s other policies such as his decision this year to abandon the Kurdish militias, former US allies, to be massacred by the Turkish army.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Democratic change has never been brought about by ruling elites and governments, especially not the US which has supported many vicious repressive regimes (including China\u2019s) for geopolitical gain. Working people can only rely on their own strength and own organisations \u2013 including international grassroots solidarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apart from enraging Beijing what difference will the new law make?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":22005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[132,133,148,124],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-china","8":"category-hong-kong","9":"category-international","10":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US Congress passes Hong Kong Democracy Act - 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