U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned business leaders at an event on Dec. 8 that the United States will treat Hong Kong, one of the world’s trade and financial centers, the same way it treats mainland China. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who also attended the event, said in a separate interview session that Hong Kong is now safe and that now is the best time to do business in Hong Kong.
On Hong Kong, event moderator Matt Murray, editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, asked, “I’m going to ask you one more question about China, and then I promise I’ll move on to a couple of other questions. But many people think the most worrisome thing is what’s going on in the South China Sea, and the risk to Taiwan. Of course, we’ve seen even Hong Kong happen a lot over the past year, which in many ways is a warning sign for Taiwan. Realistically, what can we do about Taiwan, and how worried are you that things will reach a boiling point?”
Pompeo replied, “So this is something that has been on the mind of every Secretary of State for a long time, since Dr. Kissinger. Our responsibility is to keep the promises that we made to the people there (Taiwanese), and we have legislation in place. We should make sure that we follow them explicitly. We have a long-standing ‘One China’ policy, and a series of communiqués from the Reagan era. This administration has fulfilled those. We have provided assistance to the country in terms of weapons systems. These are all things we can do.” He added, “But most importantly, I think what the world is asking of the Communist Party of China is that it deliver on the promises it has made. You mentioned Hong Kong, and they made a promise, a 50-year promise. They made a promise, a 50-year promise, and they made it halfway. When the world sees that, there has to be a price to pay. There has to be a relevant ……”
Murray pursued, “But at what cost? What cost?” Pompeo went on to say, “So China should be treated as a country. Today, we don’t. We treat Hong Kong as a special place because, in fact, it used to be a special place. We treat Hong Kong as a special place because, in fact, it used to be a special place. It’s not anymore. Obviously, Hong Kong’s judicial system is now going to be weakened. As you can see, the last fair legislative election was a few months ago. It is no longer anything other than another city controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. The rest of the world and the business community should see it as such.” He said, “And the U.S. government is getting close to doing just that. We hope that the world will understand that China has reneged on its agreement and that we no longer need to honor our commitments because of the uniqueness of Hong Kong. Taiwan will also prove that we should demand the same thing, and I hope that the Chinese Communist Party will decide differently for Taiwan.”
In the interview, Murray said, “I want to ask one more question about multilateralism, and that is – I’ve heard many times over the last few years from world leaders – I’ve heard arguments that go something like this: ‘I don’t like Trump,’ and they might say. ‘But I do think Trump is a disruptor, a businessman with a new perspective, and he could be that guy early on in his term’ — you weren’t Secretary of State early on in Trump’s term. I should have said – ‘To really unite the West, to really take a multilateral approach to China from the beginning, to really change the paradigm, instead, early in the Trump administration, he was focused on NAFTA or other trade wars, or NATO issues, and we missed an opportunity then’. “What’s your response to that?” pursued Murray. I’m sure you’ve heard this criticism before? What’s your response?”
Pompeo replied, “Yes, Matt, I don’t agree with that analysis. Ultimately, the European countries – and I also think it’s broader than the European Union. The European countries have to make decisions, just like the United States has to make a series of decisions. And we’ve all been asleep for decades on the China issue. It took American leadership to go and wake the world up to that. I remember the first time I talked about Huawei in Europe and the risk that bringing Chinese hardware and software inside your country’s telecom infrastructure poses to the network – I mean, it’s crazy. I remember the first time I talked (with the Europeans). It was a painful conversation. They thought I was crazy.”
Pompeo said, “What’s happening now is we have dozens of countries that have joined the Clean Internet Initiative. We have dozens of phone companies that have abandoned China’s telecommunications infrastructure. You can see that Ericsson and Nokia are doing better. This is a market indicator that we are right, that we are telling the right story. I hope the Europeans catch up sooner rather than later. We are now having a dialogue between the EU and the US about China. This has never happened before. They were reluctant to do so, but about a year and a half ago they came to the conclusion that they should come to the dialogue, and they also asked us if we would like to be part of that dialogue.” He added, “These are tasks that the world has to take on. Do I wish this had happened 50 years ago or 20 years ago or two months ago? I certainly hope so. But it would not have happened without the leadership of this administration and our president.”
Murray asked, “What should be the role of corporate America and multinational corporations at this point in time?” Pompeo said, “When I listen to the business roundtable discussions, they are very concerned about more than just shareholder returns, so —- that’s it. If we’re going to take these issues seriously, they have to be about long-term value creation; that is, the system will not work without the ability to conduct global trade under a set of rules that are fair and equitable, whether at the WTO or elsewhere, that don’t make one set of rules for every country and another set of rules for China. “
Pompeo said, “So business leaders should be actively involved in making sure that the rules apply equally, whether it’s reciprocal investment rules between foreign direct investment here in the United States and U.S. companies that want to invest in China, or the massive human rights abuses that are occurring in China. I’ve watched our companies. They care a lot about their employees. They care a lot about their customers. They want to make sure that they’re not doing anything to harm themselves by working with companies that are operating in Xinjiang that are connected to the massive human rights abuses that are happening there, or connected to what’s happening in Mongolia, Tibet, and other places around the world.”
Pompeo said, “Look, one of the greatest things that everybody —- about the United States is that every business leader has the power to make their own choices, and I’m sure they’ll make different choices. But I think every business leader who operates internationally understands that it’s important to (a) make sure that you’re not contributing to massive human rights abuses, and (b) make sure that you’re doing business in a way that even if it has a short-term cost to your own business. The way you do business fundamentally ensures the continued existence of freedom-loving nations, rule-abiding nations, and a liberal international order, rather than helping to prop up authoritarian regimes that want to take away the freedoms that make you and your company successful.”
In addition, Mrs. Lam said in the Summit interview that Hong Kong is the gateway to China, and that many businesses are happy to see Hong Kong as a safer place now. She said, “This is one of the best times to come to Hong Kong (to do business). Nothing has changed in recent years, except that the chaos that has plagued the business community and hit business for so long since last June is gone.”
According to Mrs. Lam, Hong Kong, with the blessing of the Central Government, will play an important role in the development of the country, especially in the Greater Bay Area. She was asked if international companies might have concerns about the freedom of Hong Kong. She said, “In addition to freedom, the rule of law and stability are Hong Kong’s core values, and reaffirmed that ‘one country, two systems’ protects Hong Kong’s freedom. She went on to say that “Hong Kong’s independent judiciary, open and transparent legal system, and comprehensive legal aid system ensure that everyone is fairly protected.
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