Delegates applaud next to a screen showing the number of votes in favor of empowering pro-Beijing committees to appoint more Hong Kong lawmakers during the closing session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (March 11, 2021)
G-7 Issues Joint Statement
U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken and the foreign ministers of the other G-7 countries and the European Union’s foreign affairs chief issued a joint statement Friday (March 12) expressing serious concern about changes to Hong Kong’s election law by the Chinese Communist authorities.
The G-7 statement said Beijing’s decision to change Hong Kong’s electoral law “strongly demonstrates the Chinese Communist Party‘s determination to eliminate dissenting voices and views in Hong Kong. The G7 foreign ministers and EU diplomatic chiefs unanimously called on the Chinese Communist Party to respect Hong Kong’s freedom and autonomy and to stop cracking down on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
Official Chinese media described the decision adopted by the National People’s Congress to amend Hong Kong’s electoral system as “another major step by the state to improve the legal and political system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” following the enactment and implementation of the National Security Law. The decision, which was approved by a large margin by delegates to the Communist Party’s rubber-stamp parliament, makes significant changes to the composition, seats and functions of the Chief Executive Election Committee and the Legislative Council to ensure what Beijing calls “patriots rule Hong Kong.
Japan said Friday that the new law, which requires all political candidates to be “patriots,” is a major setback for Hong Kong’s autonomy.
“This decision will further undermine confidence in the framework of ‘one country, two systems’ set out in the Hong Kong Basic Law and the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,” Japan’s foreign ministry said in a statement Friday. The foreign ministry said recent arrests and prosecutions of opposition politicians and activists by Hong Kong authorities have raised growing concerns in Japan. Tokyo has called on Beijing to hold elections in Hong Kong that are open to candidates “representing a wide range of political views.
U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken issued a statement Thursday, U.S. Time, on the same day the decision was adopted, condemning the People’s Republic of China’s continued attacks on Hong Kong’s democracy, saying “this decision to unilaterally change Hong Kong’s electoral system is a direct attack on the Sino-British Joint Declaration’s commitment to granting autonomy to the people of Hong Kong.”
U.S. lawmakers speak out in condemnation
Following Beijing’s decision to change Hong Kong’s election laws, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the ranking Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement Thursday saying, “The Chinese Communist Party’s puppet legislature has destroyed the legitimacy of Hong Kong’s future elections. Even after implementing their counter-utopian national security laws criminalizing dissent, the Chinese Communist Party knows that their authoritarianism will continue to be rejected by Hong Kong voters.”
The U.S. Congressman urged Secretary Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan to remind Chinese Communist Party officials when they meet with them next week that they will not get away with destroying freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. He also said the United States will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong.
Republican U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE), a member of the Intelligence Committee, also issued a strongly worded statement.
“President Xi has been trying to stifle Hong Kong’s autonomy for years. The Chinese Communist Party’s ‘one country, two systems’ propaganda has been garbage, and it is clear that they want Beijing to manipulate the situation. The CCP is violating treaties and oppressing Hong Kong people. President Xi is cracking down on anyone who rebels against his oppressive regime that carries out genocide.” Sasse said.
The senator said the American people must always stand with freedom-loving people in Hong Kong and around the world.
Lampton: Beijing’s Approach to Hong Kong Is Symbolic of a Larger Trend
David Lampton, emeritus professor at Johns Hopkins University, believes the U.S. and the international community are seeing a larger trend on Hong Kong that worries them.
In an interview with the Voice of America, he said, “I think there is an enduring Perception that the Chinese Communist Party can operate under international law and international agreements, but if its interests change, its behavior will change as well. Frankly, I think Americans and many other people around the world see what’s happening in Hong Kong as a symbol of a larger trend.”
Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan will no doubt raise serious U.S. concerns about Hong Kong when they meet with Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Alaska next week.
But Rampton, who lived in Hong Kong in the 1960s, said Beijing is making subtle changes to Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” and that the decision just made by the National People’s Congress suggests the Communist Party will not fundamentally change its direction on Hong Kong.
Will further action be taken against the CCP?
Beijing implemented the National Security Law in Hong Kong last year, and the United States and other Western powers have taken a series of measures, including sanctions against senior Chinese officials involved in Hong Kong, as well as Hong Kong government officials.
Will the United States and other democratic countries take further sanctions against China this time, in addition to issuing a statement?
Douglas Paal, a distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank, and who served as the NSC’s senior director for Asian affairs during the elder Bush’s presidency, believes that the U.S. has limited options.
He told Voice of America via email, “The United States lacks many serious options that won’t hurt the people of Hong Kong who shouldn’t be hurt. As a result, I expect more rhetoric than action.”
Rampton, who served as chairman of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, believes the U.S. response will depend on how things unfold.
“If nothing terrible happens outside of what has already happened, U.S. action may be tempered. But I think if there are new negative developments, the U.S. will respond,” Lampton said.
Last year, after Beijing imposed its version of the Hong Kong national security law, a bipartisan, bicameral U.S. Congress quickly passed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which then-President Trump signed into law, imposing sanctions on Chinese Communist Party and Hong Kong officials who Washington determined were undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and 14 senior officials, including the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s National People’s Congress, were sanctioned by the Trump Administration.
The Trump administration also issued an executive order revoking special treatment that Hong Kong had been enjoying unlike mainland China.
The Hong Kong People’s Liberty and Choice Act was passed by the House of Representatives last session without bipartisan opposition to help Hong Kong people obtain asylum in the U.S. However, the bill failed to make a quick breakthrough as the last Senate was about to expire because Republican Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) alone objected on the grounds that he was wary of Democrats loosening the standards of U.S. immigration law.
In Lampton’s view, the current U.S. Congress will undoubtedly pass more bills related to Hong Kong, and how many will be introduced depends on the actions of the Chinese Communist Party and the outcome of the talks between China and the United States.
He also believes that the Chinese Communist Party’s tightening of Hong Kong’s freedoms will only increase the pressure on Hong Kong people to emigrate abroad, and will increase the willingness of countries such as the United States to accept Hong Kong people for various visas and immigration status.
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