"America is with you and America will always support you," Hong Kong-based Republican minority MP Michael McCaul told the House of Representatives in Washington, denouncing China's "brutality" . International pressure has intensified on Beijing, with the adoption, on Wednesday, 20 November, by the US Congress, of a text supporting the demands of protesters still entrenched on a besieged campus in Hong Kong. This American initiative has been strongly condemned by Beijing.
Congress passed a resolution supporting Hong Kong's "human rights and democracy" against Beijing and threatening to suspend the special economic status granted by Washington to the former British colony. The text, passed by an overwhelming majority (by 417 votes to one) by the House of Representatives, after its unanimous adoption in the Senate on Tuesday, has yet to be signed by Donald Trump for promulgation. The White House has not formulated a veto threat and the president should approve it, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators are still entrenched on a besieged campus in Hong Kong, where a huge "SOS" has been traced, while 700 people have been arrested since the occupation began, which has become a stronghold. some movement. The Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (PolyU), on the Kowloon Peninsula, is the scene of the longest and fiercest confrontation between protesters and police since the start of the protest in June. The police presence has, however, been significantly reduced.
This American vote comes in full arduous negotiations between the first two world economic powers to get out of their trade war. Thursday, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell 1.56% during the session, investors are worried that the initiative of the Congress is torpedoing the efforts of China and the United States to finalize an agreement on their commercial dispute .
The Congress also approved a measure that would prohibit the sale of tear gas, rubber bullets and other equipment intended to suppress demonstrations to the Hong Kong police: unanimously in the Senate and in the House by 417 votes out of 435 parliamentarians without any vote against. "I urge the president to sign this decisive law as soon as possible," responded Republican Senator Marco Rubio, one of the biggest advocates of the text.
Before the final vote in Congress, Beijing had already summoned on Wednesday the acting chargé d'affaires of the US Embassy, William Klein, for "a solemn protest" and "rise" against this text. "Any attempt to undermine the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and hinder the development of China is doomed," said Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, quoted by Chinese diplomacy.
With AFP