The Daily Signal - Here's How China’s New National Security Crackdown Is Changing Hong Kong

Episode Date: July 24, 2020

On June 30, China imposed a so-called national security law that sparked protests across Hong Kong. How is this “national security law” impacting Hong Kong's relationship with the U.S.? As a global financial center, how is this this law hampering Hong Kong's influence? Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at The Heritage Foundation joins the podcast to discuss. We also cover these stories: Jobless claims are surging as the coronavirus pandemic continues.  Michael Cohen, a former personal lawyer to President Trump, is set to be released from prison today, for a second time in recent months.  Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York says the Republican party has a “culture” of sexism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Friday, July 24th. I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Rachel Del Judas. China recently imposed a so-called national security law that sparked protests across Hong Kong. Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation, joins me today on the podcast to discuss what has changed in Hong Kong since this law passed. Don't forget. If you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure. to leave a review or a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Now onto our top news. Jobless claims are surging as the coronavirus pandemic continues. On Thursday, the Department of Labor announced that 1.416 million jobless claims were filed for the week

ending in July 18th. Percy and BC, it was the 18th consecutive week that jobless claims amounted over $1 million and ended a 15-week streak of declining jobless claims. Michael Cohen, a former personal lawyer to President Trump, is set to be released from prison today for a second time in recent months. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in December of 2018 after pleading guilty to misuse of campaign funds and lying to Congress. He was released from prison in Otisville, New York in May to home confinement. Cohen's transfer to home confinement was due to efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 within the prison.

However, Cohen was sent back to prison on July 9 because, quote, he refused the conditions of his home confinement, according to a statement from prison officials. Cohen announced via Twitter earlier this summer that he was writing a book about Trump that is set to release before the November election. A week after Cohen made the announcement, he was asked to sign a statement, saying that he would have, quote, no engagement of any kind with the media, including print, TV, film, books, or any other form of media news. Cohen did not sign the form and was taken back to jail. Government lawyers said the book had nothing to do with Cohen being sent back to prison,

but federal district lawyer Alvin Hellerstein said he had never seen a clause like the one Cohen was asked to sign in his 21 years of being a judge and added, How can I take any other inference but that it was retaliatory? On Thursday, Hellerstein ordered Cohen to be sent back to home confinement. Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York says the Republican Party has a culture of sexism. Her remarks came after Congressman Ted Yoho of Florida apologized to Ocasio-Cortez after a run-in with her on Monday, where he'd reportedly used an expletive. Yoho denies that he called her inexplittive. Here's what she had to say in remarks given on the House for via ABC News Politics. I am here to say is that this harm that

Mr. Yoho levied, it tried to levy against me, was not just an incident directed at me. But when you do that to any woman, what Mr. Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters. In using that language in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community. And I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable. Democratic mayor of Portland, Ted Wey, Wheeler was tear gassed Wednesday night. Wheeler spent hours talking with protesters on the streets of Portland, trying to explain the reforms the city plans to make,

but he was met with booze, verbal attacks, and questions. The crowd escalated the situation after 11 p.m. when rioters threw flaming bags of trash over the fence protecting the federal courthouse and the federal officials guarding it. In response, the federal officials fired tear gas into the crowd. After he was gassed, Wheeler told the Washington Post, it's hard to breathe. It's a lot harder to breathe than I thought. Wheeler has been critical of the decision to send

federal guards into Portland. The California State University School System will soon require that all students take an ethnic studies or social justice course in order to graduate. Our goal for California State University students from every major in every workplace to be leaders in creating a more just and equitable society. CSU Chancellor Timothy White said in a statement. This action by the CSU and for the CSU lifts ethnic studies to a place of prominence in our curriculum, connects it with the voices and perspectives of other historically oppressed groups, and advances the field by applying the lens of social justice. The addition of the course comes after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police on May 25th. According to the California State University's

site, courses that would be eligible include Africano literature, Native Californian perspectives, police reform, disparities in public health, and the economics of racism. Now stay tuned for my interview with Mike Gonzalez on what's going on in Hong Kong since China's imposed a national security law. Do you have an opinion that you'd like to share? Leave us a voicemail at 202-608-6205 or email us at Letters at DailySignal.com. Yours could be featured on the Daily Signal podcast. I'm joined today on the Daily Signal podcast by Mike Gonzalez. He's a senior fellow in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation.

Mike, it's always great to have you on the Daily Signal podcast. It's always great for me to be on and speak to your audiences. Well, thanks so much for making time to be with us. On June 30th, and we talked about this, actually, a few months. ago before this national security law passed, but Hong Kong passed a so-called national security law that sparked protests across that region. What has changed in Hong Kong since the implementation of this law? Well, a technical correction, it was China that passed it, and that is part of the problem. China completely ignored the promise that it had made Hong Kong of granting it

autonomy. And the National People's Congress just passed a national security law that applies to Hong Kong in which Hong Kong does not have, cannot have a judicial review of it. So the law is in the books. And now Hong Kong really is part of China. You know, oh, the national security law says that if you're guilty of sedition, then you're guilty of this law. The law finds you guilty. and you can actually be even tried in China, or you can be, that part is not really clear yet, but the fact is, is that the natural rights, the rights that Hong Kong people were promised and the sign of British Declaration signed in the 80s that they would have a large degree of autonomy have been violated.

So look, this is now what it means, it means several things. Countries around the world are finally waking up to this. The UK, Australia, and Canada have suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong. That means that if Hong Kong, if the government of Hong Kong, which is really a nominal government increasingly, asks for the extradition of somebody in Canada or the United Kingdom or Australia, that person won't necessarily be extradited to Hong Kong because these governments do not. I think that the law will treat them fairly. Also, Amcham, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong took a survey very recently of

American expats there. There's 1,200 companies, American companies in Hong Kong, and half of them are thinking of leaving. This is a blow to Hong Kong. It's a sad thing to see because Hong Kong, as you well know, was such a success. city, such a successful capitalist city, was number one in the Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom for two decades until this year, in fact, when it dropped to number two. So Hong Kong is now just becoming another city in China. Well, Mike, that was actually my next question, which you mostly hit on.

But just given that Hong Kong has been such a global financial center, how is this going to impact that area for, you know, the time being to come? given that they're not going to have the success that they've had in the past. Well, I mean, there will be people's flight. The U.K., the relationship of the U.K. with Hong Kong, it goes back, obviously, for a century and a half. The U.K. used to be, Britain used to be, the colonial power until 1997, and the U.K. has just said that three million people, that it's roughly about half of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is about 7.2 million people. three million people in Hong Kong will have the right of abode in the UK if they still choose.

The United States in an executive order issued by Mr. Trump last week also said that it would consider issuing some Hong Kong people people people of refugee status. So there's going to be people flight. There's going to be a brain drain. And this is going to be a capital drain. I keep hearing stories of people pulling the money out of Hong Kong. U.S. companies are leaving. that is a brain drain is an awful thing on a territory, whether it was Northern Ireland doing the troubles in the 60s and 70s

or Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. All the professionals empty out and leave, and it really can cripple an economy. And if it's combined with capital flight for what has been a banking center, this is really, for somebody like me who's lived in Hong Kong for eight years, who knows Hong Kong really well, that this is happening to such a jewel of a world city, one of the best cities in the world by any standard. It is really sad, and it's all the fault of the Communist Party in Beijing. It did not need to do this. It did not need to take this draconian measure.

In fact, it violated the word that it gave to the United Kingdom into the world. The sign of British Joint Declaration is an international treaty entered into the United Nations. In it, China, the government of China, the PRC, the People's Republic of China, that is the Communist Party of China, gave its word that it would respect Hong Kong's autonomy. It's now violated that. Well, Mike, as you mentioned, you spent nearly a decade living in Hong Kong. What have you been hearing from folks on the ground there about what's changed under this new law? If you've been hearing any sort of conversations or even just seeing things in their news coverage, what are you hearing? The same thing as is reflected in the survey taken by AmCham, by Amcham.

People are very worried. Expats and Hong Kong, Hong Kongers alive, Hong Kong belongers is what we used to call them. Hong Kong belongings and expats alike are expressing a great deal of apprehension about the fact that their rights, will no longer be protected. What this law says that, you know, that anything you say or utter can be considered seditious, and thereby you can be charged with a crime. Right there, your freedom of speech is taken away.

Your freedom of association is taken away. Your freedom of conscience, really, it's the next one to go. People are thinking of leaving. As I said, people are pulling their money out. People are concerned about remaining their money. and what it means to their livelihood. And, you know, the U.S. government, the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo,

who is now just landed in the U.K. last night to discuss this very issue with his counterpart in the U.K. Dominic Rab and hopefully with his other counterparts in the continent. There needs to be a joint response by all the democracies, older freedom-loving peoples of the world, to say to the Communist Party, of China, you know, you really can't do this. You can't, if you violate your word here, your word will be meaningless on everything else you say. We will not respect you. They care a lot about being respected in the world, but the truth about the true nature of the Communist Party of China is now becoming known to the world. And that fills these old men in the

Politburo with fear and rightly so. Well, Fox News reported on Monday that the British government suspended its extradition arrangements with Hong Kong due to this controversial international security legislation being imposed by Beijing. What does this mean for the UK's relationship in specific with Hong Kong? Well, actually, I'm pleasantly surprised that the UK has finally taken such a leading role. It used to be said that the U.K., that the U.S. took the lead, and the U.K. just on the U. allowed anything to happen to Hong Kong after it left. It has been different with Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the UK for the last year. He has taken this much more seriously than his predecessors, his responsibilities, the Britain's responsibility towards his former colonial subjects,

the 7.2 million people of Hong Kong. And this policy that you mentioned of deciding to cease to to put a stop to the extradition treaty, to suspend it, rather. It is a very, it's a major decision that the Chinese embassy in London has issued a very strong condemnation of it, which means that it is hurting them. The PRC, the People's Republic of China, through its embassy in London, has said to the UK, we don't interfere in your internal affairs. Do not interfere in ours. Whatever happens in Hong Kong is our internal affairs.

But that is not the case. It is not the case because China signed, again, China signed a treaty with Britain in the 80s called the Sino-British Joint Declaration in which China's Communist Party gave its word. China's communist rulers gave their word that they would respect the autonomy of the people of Hong Kong for 50 years. after it took over Hong Kong in 1997. That would be obviously 2007. We're not there yet. So the fact that it is not by that it is that halfway through this period has decided it can no longer abide by its word is very worrisome.

Well, what is China's big picture aim in this crap down on Hong Kong? I think China is, with its ruthless oppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Xinjiang is a region in the West that is people by Turkish-speaking, mostly Muslim people called the Uighurs. In China has now finally admits that it has open concentration camps and that it is putting hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs through concentration camps and re-education camps. So in China has done similar things in Tibet, obviously since taking over Tibet in 1959. China says now, if I take over, I can do anything I want. This is a communism is always ruthless because it violates the common humanity of people. It violates a natural law.

So to do that, it must use coercion and violence. And it does so inexorably. What this says to the people of Taiwan is don't ever, ever, ever trust the word of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. As long as China, the mainland China continues to be ruled by the Communist Party, the people of Taiwan have now been warned that one country, two systems for Taiwan will not be respected just as, and they will be oppressed, just that the people of Hong Kong are being oppressed, just as the people of Xinjiang are being oppressed, just like Tibetans are being oppressed. Well, before this law was enacted, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien suggested the U.S. might consider sanctions against China

if it goes forward with this law. and I guess what is your perspective about how the U.S. has responded? Has our response been adequate? And what else would you suggest the United States do? Yeah, I mean, it has been adequate. The Trump administration has been rather good on this. It has, as I said, Secretary Pompeo has informed Congress that it no longer considers Hong Kong autonomous. That means that the special nation status, the special trade status that Hong Kong receives may be waived away now.

It may be that for trade purposes, Hong Kong will be considered just another city in China. We will see whether the Global Magnitsky Act is applied to PRC and Hong Kong officials who are identified as having taken a direct personal action in applying and suppressing the rights of the people of Hong Kong. So that has not happened yet, but if any Hong Kong or Chinese officials, is identified as having personally been involved in denying the people of Hong Kong the right to free speech under this sedition technicality, then they can be sanctioned, they and their families can be sanctioned, and that can be not being allowed to not be given a U.S. visa, and as far as having the U.S. assets frozen. So the U.S. has done already a lot.

this more than can be done, and I'm sure Secretary Pompeo, who is surrounded by some really smart people when it comes to Hong Kong, I can think of at least two officials who know a lot about this area, know a lot about this policy, and they're giving very good advice to the Trump administration, which is why the Trump administration is doing all the right things. Well, in the beginning, you mentioned how, you know, there have been protests, in the region before this law was enacted. What does this mean now for freedom fighters in Hong Kong on the big picture? Well, this is when the rubber will hit the road.

They will either stay and be courageous. And if they do that and they continue to speak out, they will likely land in a prison with long prison sentences. For somebody like Martin Lee, who is 18. 81 years old, that would probably mean a death sentence because he could actually obviously contract a COVID-19 in prison and die in short order. They could leave. They could leave and speak out against what is happening in Hong Kong from outside.

And that is not a – that is also a courageous thing to do. if you know that you're going to be thrown in a prison, in a dungeon in China, for exercising your natural rights, then you might decide to just leave Hong Kong while people are still allowed to leave Hong Kong and condemn what the Chinese government is doing and the Communist Party is doing from outside. Well, Mike, thank you so much for joining us today on the Daily Signal podcast. and breaking this down. We appreciate having you with us. Great. Thank you very much for having me on, as always.

And that will do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal podcast. Please be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. And please leave us a review or rating on Apple Podcasts and give us your feedback. Thanks again for listening, and we'll be back with you all on Monday. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. It is executive produced by Kate Trinko and Rachel Del Judas, sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinie, and John Pop. For more information, visitdailysignal.com.