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Trump Offers ‘Personal Meeting’ with Chinese Counterpart Over Hong Kong Crisis

State Department correspondent Cindy Saine and a reporter for VOA Cantonese contributed to this report.

With Chinese security forces spotted conducting exercises across the border with Hong Kong, U.S. President Donald Trump says a trade agreement with China could be delayed until it reaches a humane resolution with Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrators, even suggesting he could personally broker an agreement between Beijing and the dissidents.

Trump went on Twitter late Wednesday night to boast about his administration’s upper hand against Beijing in the ongoing negotiations to end the two countries’ trade war.  After writing that “thousands of companies” are leaving China, the president said “Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them deal humanely with Hong Kong first!”

..deferral to December. It actually helps China more than us, but will be reciprocated. Millions of jobs are being lost in China to other non-Tariffed countries. Thousands of companies are leaving. Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong first!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2019

FILE – President Donald Trump poses for a photo with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019.

Trump then said Xi Jingping, his Chinese counterpart, “very much has the respect of his people,” and that he had ” ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it. Personal meeting?”

I know President Xi of China very well. He is a great leader who very much has the respect of his people. He is also a good man in a “tough business.” I have ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it. Personal meeting?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2019

The president’s tweets were his most extensive about the crisis in the Chinese territory since the demonstrations broke out 10 weeks ago.  In comments to reporters Tuesday, Trump, who last week took a hands-off stance on the protests, said the Hong Kong situation “is a very tough situation, very tough. We’ll see what happens, but I’m sure it will work out.” He expressed the hope that no one would get hurt and “for liberty.”

Protesters react to tear gas from Shum Shui Po police station in Hong Kong, Aug. 14, 2019.

The situation took an ominous turn Thursday, with reporters from both Reuters and AFP (Agence France-Presse) observing hundreds of members of China’s People’s Armed Police conducting exercises in a sports stadium in the southern city of Shenzhen, which sits across the border from Hong Kong.  Dozens of trucks, armored personnel carriers and  other military vehicles were spotted outside the stadium.  

The deployment of the PAP forces confirms earlier reports published by Chinese state-run media claiming the forces was already assembling in Shenzhen.

US concerns

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Wednesday the United States is “deeply concerned” by reports of Chinese paramilitary movement along the border with Hong Kong.

“We encourage China and all parties in Hong Kong to pursue a solution that respects the liberty of Hongkongers and Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, as enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” said a State Department spokesperson. “It is important for the Hong Kong Government to respect the freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly, as enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and for China to respect Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy.”

Medical staffs and protesters carry an injured man as they confront with policemen near the Shum Shui Po police station in Hong Kong on Aug. 14, 2019.

On Wednesday, National Security Advisor John Bolton warned China to show restraint in its handling of the protests in Hong Kong.

“Something like 60% of the investment in mainland China goes through Hong Kong. Why? Because it has a judicial system that’s trustworthy, based on the English model that we know in this country, the courts are thought to be impartial,” Bolton told VOA Contributor Greta Van Susteren. “If Hong Kong loses that reputation because of a bad decision by the Chinese government, they’ll have significant economic consequences in China this time, and I can tell you from what I’ve heard, just in the past few weeks, the mood in Congress is very volatile at this point, and a misstep by the Chinese government I think would cause an explosion on Capitol Hill.”

He said China needs to learn from its past. “The Chinese have to look very carefully at the steps they take because people in America remember Tiananmen Square,” Bolton said. “They remember the picture of the man standing in front of the line of tanks, they remember the statue of Lady Liberty, they remember voices of the Chinese people asking for freedom and democracy, and they remember the repression of the Chinese government in 1989, it would be a big mistake to create a new memory like that in Hong Kong.”

Border build-up

As protests have escalated in recent days, China’s state-run media have showed videos of security forces gathering across the border in mainland China. Chinese police have also been accused of infiltrating the protest in an effort to stir up trouble.

“I don’t see any reason for the authority to send the mainland Chinese police or undercover cops come to the airport mixed into the demonstration,” one protester who was at a recent demonstration at Hong Kong’s airport told VOA.  

FILE – Protesters use luggage trolleys to block the walkway to the departure gates during a demonstration at the Airport in Hong Kong, Aug. 13, 2019.

There have been fierce clashes between demonstrators and police on Hong Kong’s streets. Violence also erupted at the international airport late Tuesday as riot police clashed with pro-democracy demonstrators who had taken over the airport for two straight days.

“We condemn violence and urge all sides to exercise restraint, but remain staunch in our support for freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly in Hong Kong,” the State Department spokesperson said.

Hong Kong residents have been protesting over their perceived erosion of freedom and lack of autonomy under Chinese control of the territory. The protests present the biggest challenge to Chinese rule of the semi-autonomous territory since its 1997 handover from Britain.

 

 

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