China’s Economic Power Cannot Come At The Expense Of Freedom
The United States and other democracies need to stand with the people of Hong Kong
OVER Memorial Day weekend, we reflected on the brave actions of those who died in battle so that we might live free. But it’s also fitting for us to consider the moral causes of our time. One such cause is playing out across the Pacific in the metropolis called Hong Kong.
If that island city seems like a distant land worthy only of someone else’s concern, it might be because it is easy to lose perspective while sitting inside our own borders. The truth is that our economic strength, along with the future of a peace we can thrive in, are tied to a contest of ideas on the world’s stage. And within that contest, we have ceded much to China in recent decades without gaining the ground we once thought possible.
China was granted admission to the World Trade Organization in the waning days of the Clinton administration under a similar belief that dominated the thinking of the free world when China was handed control of Hong Kong just a few days before July 4, 1997. That belief was that as China modernised and found prosperity by opening its economy, its political system would follow along and open up as well. Back in those heady days, some believed that “one country, two systems” would inevitably lead toward the dominance of the Hong Kong system — a system moving toward real democracy.
China did make some strides in that direction, including loosening its onechild policy. But, particularly in recent years, China’s tendencies to crack down on its people have proved resilient. A new national security law to be extended over Hong Kong that was announced over the past week is just one among the latest examples. Others include arresting peaceful democracy advocates in Hong Kong and targeting the Muslim community in western China.
So we stand with Senator Ted Cruz and others in our nation’s capital in pushing back. We support targeted sanctions aimed at Chinese officials who would crush dissent against the regime and support for democracy. And we believe there should be leadership on the presidential level to ensure the world knows the United States stands with those who are demanding their own freedom. Such leadership will be noticed in Beijing, and it will be noticed in corporate boardrooms across American, a place where many decisions have been made over the past few decades that have led to a transfer of technology that has built China’s modern economic base.
We also believe the United States should rally Great Britain and other allies to the cause. We are witnessing the end of any illusion that China intended to honour the one country, two systems mandated by the Basic Law and the 1984 Joint Declaration between China and Great Britain. But without our allies and steadfast support of democratic values by the president of the United States, countries will test US commitment to the expansion of democracy.
As we work now to reopen our own economy, we should recognise expanding the natural political rights of those who happen to reside in China will bolster global commerce and help us drive our own economic destiny. But what is required is both American leadership and an understanding that the secret ingredient to building wealth and lasting peace across the world is a recognition that all people ought to be free to determine their own destiny. So we stand with the people of Hong Kong, and we call on Washington to never lose sight of the north star of freedom.