China says Trump on ‘edge of precipice’
Beijing outraged over U.S. bill targeting officials in Hong Kong crackdown
The crisis over Hong Kong’s future took centre stage in worsening U.S.-China relations Thursday, as protesters called on President Donald Trump to sign into law a bill intended to protect human rights in the territory over Beijing’s increasingly strident objections.
The prospect of a diplomatic showdown between the United States and China over Hong Kong pushed Asian stock markets lower, after Congress passed a bill that paves the way for sanctions against officials involved in the crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
China’s most senior diplomat, Wang Yi, said the U.S. actions severely damage bilateral relations and do not help world peace and stability, while state media urged the United States to “rein in the horse at the edge of the precipice” and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.
“If the U.S. side obstinately clings to its course, the Chinese side will inevitably adopt forceful measures to take resolute revenge, and all consequences will be borne by the United States,” the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, said in a front-page editorial.
But on the streets of Hong Kong, Washington’s support was welcomed — even if it was not seen as a game changer. Protesters are regrouping after a tough week in which more than 1,000 were apprehended and hundreds injured in a failed attempt to turn the city’s universities into fortified bases.
“Sign the bill, protect Hong Kong!” a group of more than 100 protesters chanted at an upscale shopping mall. “Five demands, not one less!” they shouted, referring to their list of grievances against the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities. In Washington, the Hong Kong bill brought rare bipartisan co-operation even as the impeachment inquiry had lawmakers deeply divided.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi celebrated the bill’s passage as “a day of mutual respect for democratic freedoms, the courage of the young people there to speak out, and also day of great bipartisanship in the House of Representative and the United States Senate.”
After the ceremony, Rep. Michael McCaul of the foreign affairs committee told reporters that he believed Trump would sign the bill.
Not to do so “would fly in the face of the truth that this is happening in Hong Kong and we need to support the people of Hong Kong,” he said.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment, but the bill has nearunanimous backing as Congress appears determined to send a message to China.