Politico reported, “The Senate today unanimously passed legislation in support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters by empowering the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Hong Kong or Chinese officials who take actions that violate human rights.”
China is allegedly angry about it. Their threats keep the frightened senators under control. It comes at an interesting time when the Chinese are about to put part one of a trade deal in writing.
The story continues, “The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act would require the secretary of State to certify, at least once a year, whether Hong Kong continues to warrant special treatment under U.S. law based on a number of criteria, including the autonomy of its government decision-making related to human rights, law enforcement and extradition requests.”
Paperwork for bureaucrats!
IT MAKES THE PRESIDENT DO SOMETHING, NOT THEM
“The legislation would also mandate that the president impose sanctions against foreign persons determined to be responsible for extrajudicial rendition, arbitrary detention, torture or forced confession of people in Hong Kong, or other gross violations of human rights in Hong Kong. Other provisions would require the administration to develop a strategy to protect American citizens and others in Hong Kong from rendition or abduction to China, and to report annually to Congress on violations of U.S. export controls laws and United Nations sanctions occurring in Hong Kong.”
It is a meaningless piece of paper. Let’s sanction their imports instead.
It is seen as putting pressure on President Trump but why don’t they do something?
Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said in a statement that the bill sent a “clear message to Hong Kongers” that the United States would not “stand idly by.” He added, “The passage of this bill is an important step in holding accountable those Chinese and Hong Kong government officials responsible for Hong Kong’s eroding autonomy and human rights violations.”
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They don’t stand idly by, they write meaningless bills. It now heads for the House and they have their own version already hammered out. We can just imagine what that looks like.