China routinely vilifies any comment on its political practices as unwarranted, outside "interference." Yet Beijing is always ready to lecture the US about its policies.
Most recently, China was outraged when US officials met with Martin Lee (
The 1997 reversion of Hong Kong from a colony of Britain to a Special Administrative Region of China was no cause for celebration to anyone who values human liberty above brutal nationalism.
Still, the city's 6.8 million residents value freedom. Hundreds of thousands rallied last year to oppose proposed "anti-subversion" legislation pushed by China. Many of them now are advocating free elections and universal suffrage. But Beijing has responded to talk of democracy with a vitriolic barrage.
Consider China's reaction to past and present presidential races in Taiwan. Equally threatening is the fact that Hong Kong residents, too, can vote, and have favored independent voices. Bai Gang (白鋼), director of the Centre for Public Policy Research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, complains, "Pro-democracy politicians have serious inadequacies in identification with the country. However, they have the upper hand over the patriotic camp in Hong Kong."
That is, in China's view, the wrong folks are winning elections. As a result, Lee has more popular legitimacy than does Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Obviously, Washington cannot force China to keep its promises to the people of Hong Kong. Still, though Americans cannot enshrine democracy in Hong Kong, they can talk to democrats in Kong Kong.
US Senator Sam Brownback invited Lee to Washington to testify about the situation in Hong Kong. While there, Lee met with a number of legislators, as well as Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
Nothing seditious about any of this. Indeed, Lee stated his faith that China's top leaders would "get it right."
Nevertheless, Chinese apparatchiks were angry about his trip. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
It brings to mind China's earlier attempts to browbeat Washington into not allowing President Chen Shui-bian (
However, there can be no compromise over the US extending its hospitality to those who share its ideals around the globe. People like Martin Lee should be encouraged, not just allowed, to visit the US.
This is an internal affair for Washington. China has no right to interfere.
Martin Lee is optimistic about Hong Kong's future, believing that Chinese leaders "will know ultimately that democracy is not something they should fear."
We must hope he is right, since the US cannot prevent China from suppressing human rights there or even in Hong Kong. But the US certainly should not suppress human rights in the US at China's behest.
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
As Taiwan’s domestic political crisis deepens, the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed gutting the country’s national spending, with steep cuts to the critical foreign and defense ministries. While the blue-white coalition alleges that it is merely responding to voters’ concerns about corruption and mismanagement, of which there certainly has been plenty under Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and KMT-led governments, the rationales for their proposed spending cuts lay bare the incoherent foreign policy of the KMT-led coalition. Introduced on the eve of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the KMT’s proposed budget is a terrible opening
“I compare the Communist Party to my mother,” sings a student at a boarding school in a Tibetan region of China’s Qinghai province. “If faith has a color,” others at a different school sing, “it would surely be Chinese red.” In a major story for the New York Times this month, Chris Buckley wrote about the forced placement of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan children in boarding schools, where many suffer physical and psychological abuse. Separating these children from their families, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to substitute itself for their parents and for their religion. Buckley’s reporting is
Last week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), together holding more than half of the legislative seats, cut about NT$94 billion (US$2.85 billion) from the yearly budget. The cuts include 60 percent of the government’s advertising budget, 10 percent of administrative expenses, 3 percent of the military budget, and 60 percent of the international travel, overseas education and training allowances. In addition, the two parties have proposed freezing the budgets of many ministries and departments, including NT$1.8 billion from the Ministry of National Defense’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program — 90 percent of the program’s proposed
RSS