Trump may veto bill for HK human rights
President Donald Trump suggested yesterday that he might veto legislation designed to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong – despite its nearunanimous support in the House and Senate – to pave the way for a trade deal with China.
Speaking on the Fox & Friends morning programme, the president said he was balancing competing priorities in the US-China relationship.
‘‘We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I’m also standing with President Xi [Jinping],’’ Trump said. ‘‘He’s a friend of mine. He’s an incredible guy . . . But I’d like to see them work it out. OK. We have to see and work it out. But I stand with Hong Kong. I stand with freedom. I stand with all of the things that we want to do, but we also are in the process of making the largest trade deal in history. And if we could do that, that would be great.’’
On Wednesday, the House passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act by a vote of 417 to 1. The lone holdout was Representative Thomas Massie (Republican, Kentucky). That came one day after the Senate had approved the measure on a unanimous vote.
The veto-proof majorities indicate Congress could overrule the president if he tries to block the bill from becoming law. As the US-China trade talks approach the one-year mark, the episode shows how other elements of the relationship between the world’s two largest economies are influencing prospects for a deal.
The president’s uncertain remarks drew swift opposition from members of both parties. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said the Hong Kong bill ‘‘will become law. This was a true bipartisan moment and a clear signal to the rest of the world that political threats from corrupt regimes will not stand in the way of America supporting the millions of freedom fighters in Hong Kong.’’
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, (Democrat, New York) accused the president of going soft on the Chinese leader. ‘‘For a guy who promised to be tough on China . . . Trump’s reliable deference to President Xi is all the more bewildering. Being tough on China when it comes to human rights will also help us win the battle on trade.’’
Once a bill is passed by both chambers of Congress, the president has 10 days to sign it into law or to veto it. If he does neither, it will become law automatically. That means Trump has until early December to decide.
The legislation authorises sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials involved in human rights abuses and requires the State Department to conduct an annual review of the special status that the US grants Hong Kong in trade matters.
The bill threatens to complicate trade negotiations that already are stalled on several key issues. Chinese officials have criticised the congressional action as interference in their internal affairs. Vice-President Mike Pence said it would be ‘‘very hard’’ to finalise a trade deal if China resorts to violence to put down the protests, now in their sixth month.
But some experts say Xi will keep the trade talks and the Hong Kong protests on separate tracks. The Chinese economy grew at a 6 per cent annual rate in the quarter that ended September 30, its slowest pace in 27 years. And the trans-Pacific tariff war is only adding to economic pressures, giving officials an incentive to negotiate a ceasefire. If Xi sees a trade deal as easing his economic woes, he will sign it regardless of other irritants in China’s relationship with the US, said Aaron Friedberg, a China scholar at Princeton University.
‘‘The idea of linkage between
Hong Kong and the trade talks is largely a figment of Trump’s imagination. I doubt that the Chinese side has made any such overt connection although, now that Trump has done so, they may be happy to reinforce the idea that, if we somehow go easy on them on Hong Kong, they may eventually ink that illusive ‘great deal,’’’ said Friedberg, who was an adviser to former vicepresident Dick Cheney.
China regained sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, ending more than 150 years of British colonial rule. Maintaining control over the prosperous enclave, which Beijing governs under ‘‘the one-country, two-systems framework,’’ is a top priority for Xi. But there has been widespread tension in Hong Kong for months over China’s governance of the economic hub, triggering large – at times, violent – protests that have led to multiple deaths.