Pompeo calls Hong Kong law an 'affront to all nations'

[tonbridgebrit]

Okay, from the OP "Kurt Tong, the former U.S. consul general in Hong Kong, said it was difficult to craft responses that did not hurt Hong Kong or the United States more than they hurt China. "

This comment is hilarious. So, the strategy is to do something that will hurt China more than it hurts Hong Kong or the USA.

And indeed, there's almost nothing that can achieve this goal.
What is the main reason for Hong Kong being a prosperous place ? Okay, companies in Hong Kong buy/import goods that are made in mainland China. The goods are then re-exported/re-routed to America,Europe and the rest of the world. This generates a profit for the Hong Kong company involved. Hong Kong companies also import goods from America and the rest of the world, and then they re-export/re-route the goods into mainland China. This also generates a profit.

So, being a trading post for mainland China. And this was happening prior to 1997, and happens today. This is the rock on which Hong Kong's economy is built on. And now what ? Is America going to slap serious taxes and quotas on goods moving from Hong Kong to America ? Is the US government going to restrict US goods leaving America for Hong Kong ?  It's absurd to carry out these ideas.


What next ?  How about the US government will restrict the American exports of soy beans and other food products to  China ?  Yeah, go and hit American farmers ?  How about the US government gives a lecture to the Australians ? Tell Australia to massively reduce it's exports of coal and iron ore to China ? How about telling Thailand to reduce the number of Chinese tourists entering Thailand ? The last option is even more absurd than the other two options.

Edited July 4, 2020 by tonbridgebrit

[Morch]

8 minutes ago, tonbridgebrit said:

Okay, from the OP "Kurt Tong, the former U.S. consul general in Hong Kong, said it was difficult to craft responses that did not hurt Hong Kong or the United States more than they hurt China. "

This comment is hilarious. So, the strategy is to do something that will hurt China more than it hurts Hong Kong or the USA.

And indeed, there's almost nothing that can achieve this goal.
What is the main reason for Hong Kong being a prosperous place ? Okay, companies in Hong Kong buy/import goods that are made in mainland China. The goods are then re-exported/re-routed to America,Europe and the rest of the world. This generates a profit for the Hong Kong company involved. Hong Kong companies also import goods from America and the rest of the world, and then they re-export/re-route the goods into mainland China. This also generates a profit.

So, being a trading post for mainland China. And this was happening prior to 1997, and happens today. This is the rock on which Hong Kong's economy is built on. And now what ? Is America going to slap serious taxes and quotas on goods moving from Hong Kong to America ? Is the US government going to restrict US goods leaving America for Hong Kong ?  It's absurd to carry out these ideas.


What next ?  How about the US government will restrict the American exports of soy beans and other food products to  China ?  Yeah, go and hit American farmers ?  How about the US government gives a lecture to the Australians ? Tell Australia to massively reduce it's exports of coal and iron ore to China ? How about telling Thailand to reduce the number of Chinese tourists entering Thailand ? The last option is even more absurd than the other two options.

 

How does "hilarious" fit in, though? Tong acknowledged it's a difficult situation, that's all. Doubt anyone seriously asserted otherwise. If anything, it demonstrates the need to come up with effective ways to counter the PRC in the future. 

[Isaan sailor]

18 hours ago, Tug said:

 trump has done squat about the spratlys or the South China Sea look at the facts and truth take the blinders off don’t be a mark

Nice try—but dead wrong about the Spratlys.  China built them up during Obama/Biden administration.  Obama, to his credit, wanted to stop the militarization.  But Joe Biden advised him to keep the US Navy out of that area.  One has to wonder Biden’s motive.  His son, Hunter, had just come into a fortune, courtesy of a Chinese “business” deal.

[billd766]

From the OP snipped to save space.

Snip<

quote "Kurt Tong, the former U.S. consul general in Hong Kong, said it was difficult to craft responses that did not hurt Hong Kong or the United States more than they hurt China.

 

"I do expect President Trump to raise tariffs on Hong Kong exports, since he has already said as much. Still, such actions are unlikely to deter Beijing," he said.

 

"More dramatic options, such as somehow attacking Hong Kong’s policy of pegging its currency to the U.S. dollar, do not seem practical," he added."

Snip>

 

Perhaps the wisest course of action IMHO would be for the USA administration to keep its nose out of Hong Kong and China's internal affairs.

 

I thoroughly with tonbridgebrit's post #64

 

There really isn't much that the USA can do without harming Hong Kong and the USA. China will do what it wants to do irrespective of what the USA. UK, EU, UN and anybody else who is interested thinks, says or does.

[Morch]

3 minutes ago, billd766 said:

From the OP snipped to save space.

Snip<

quote "Kurt Tong, the former U.S. consul general in Hong Kong, said it was difficult to craft responses that did not hurt Hong Kong or the United States more than they hurt China.

 

"I do expect President Trump to raise tariffs on Hong Kong exports, since he has already said as much. Still, such actions are unlikely to deter Beijing," he said.

 

"More dramatic options, such as somehow attacking Hong Kong’s policy of pegging its currency to the U.S. dollar, do not seem practical," he added."

Snip>

 

Perhaps the wisest course of action IMHO would be for the USA administration to keep its nose out of Hong Kong and China's internal affairs.

 

I thoroughly with tonbridgebrit's post #64

 

There really isn't much that the USA can do without harming Hong Kong and the USA. China will do what it wants to do irrespective of what the USA. UK, EU, UN and anybody else who is interested thinks, says or does.

 

The PRC's "internal affairs" include harsh treatment of the Uighur minority. Should this be ignored as well? The PRC considers Taiwan to be, essentially, part of China - does it follow that issues relating to this are to be ignored as well? How about other areas the PRC claims as its own?

 

Saying the PRC is (currently, at least) too big to handle, difficult to counter and all the rest does not have to imply that ignoring its actions and policies is either right or smart. Granted, under the prevailing set of conditions, it seems unlikely that it can be effectively opposed. That's pretty much what Tong's comment was about. The rest of your and @tonbridgebrit reasoning doesn't follow.

[chainarong]

It's just a question of what are you going to do about it , talk is cheap and frankly China couldn't give a flying toss who or what is affronted.

[billd766]

5 hours ago, chainarong said:

It's just a question of what are you going to do about it , talk is cheap and frankly China couldn't give a flying toss who or what is affronted.

If you were referring to me in the post above yours, I am going to do nothing about it>

 

What can I do as a Brit married to a Thai and living in Thailand.

 

Declare war on China? Invade the Paracel Islands? Single handedly invade China or Hong Kong?

[Morch]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

If you were referring to me in the post above yours, I am going to do nothing about it>

 

What can I do as a Brit married to a Thai and living in Thailand.

 

Declare war on China? Invade the Paracel Islands? Single handedly invade China or Hong Kong?

 

Granted, private boycotts on Made in China stuff are very hard, if not impossible to uphold. Plus the effect might not be all what some imagine it would be.

 

There's that, and then there's cheerleading the PRC, which some posters on here (not you specifically) engage in on most related topics. Saying there's not a whole lot that can effectively done doesn't imply accepting or embracing everything the PRC does.

[Traubert]

On 7/4/2020 at 12:52 PM, grumpy 4680 said:

     Rubbish, if you were from Hong Kong, you would feel the same way they do, They were granted a 50 year period as a seperate state, The miserable lying two faced Chinese, have broken that agreement, as with all their other commitments regyardless from world opinions. The rest of the world could crash the Chinese economy, and send them back to the dark ages, as they deserve.

So tell us how they've broken the arrangement? Seriously?

 

Every other country that has civil unrest is allowed to deal with it, except China is that it?

 

Back in the seventies I was dealing with Civil unrest in N Ireland financed by who?

 

Guess.

[Morch]

13 minutes ago, Traubert said:

So tell us how they've broken the arrangement? Seriously?

 

Every other country that has civil unrest is allowed to deal with it, except China is that it?

 

Back in the seventies I was dealing with Civil unrest in N Ireland financed by who?

 

Guess.

 

Countries have different ways of defining what falls under "civil unrest". The PRC's version covers way more ground than most. If you, and the other PRC fans on here want to say that's alright - fine. Saying that it is the same as "every other country" - not so much.

[GinBoy2]

1 hour ago, Traubert said:

So tell us how they've broken the arrangement? Seriously?

 

Every other country that has civil unrest is allowed to deal with it, except China is that it?

 

Back in the seventies I was dealing with Civil unrest in N Ireland financed by who?

 

Guess.

To address your obvious point.

 

I don't think back in the 70's an Irish nationalist in Northern Ireland waving a banner expressing Irish unity would have been facing life imprisonment, which is exactly what these young kids in HK are facing.

 

Of course every country has laws to address civil unrest. But this is nothing like what you and I would think of as curtailing civil unrest. This is designed to curtail and eliminate free speech for fear of imprisonment for ever!

[GinBoy2]

And here we go, one more step towards to total lockdown on free speech and more inmportantly, free thinking!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53296810

[candide]

It looks like Xi and Putin are hurrying up to comfort their respective positions before a more competent POTUS is elected!