World
Asia Congressmen Deny U.S. Involvement in Hong Kong Protests, Met With Silence by C.Y. Leung
U.S. Delegation in Hong Kong to learn about the Chinese territory’s political situation
A banner—placed by pro-democracy protesters—on a vehicle carrying Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying last month. Photo: Getty Images
By Isabella Steger And Ned Levin
May 9, 2015 7:50 a.m. ET
A group of U.S. congressmen visiting Hong Kong struck a neutral tone on political reform in the Chinese territory, but said they were met with silence from the city’s chief executive when they denied U.S. involvement in last fall’s Occupy Central protests.
Republican Matt Salmon of Arizona said he told Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in a meeting Friday that when Mr. Leung comments on foreign interference in Hong Kong, he “must be speaking of other countries, because our country has not been involved in that at all, I can guarantee you that.”
During last year’s pro-democracy Occupy protests in Hong Kong, which ran from September to December, Mr. Leung—toeing a line oft-used by Beijing—repeatedly said he had evidence proving foreign influence was behind the protests and would expose it at an appropriate time.
But Mr. Leung met Mr. Salmon’s remark with silence, Democratic Representative Alan Lowenthal, of California, said.
A spokesperson for Mr. Leung’s office declined to comment on the “closed-door” meeting and referred instead to a statement issued Friday, which noted that the parties had “exchanged views on Hong Kong’s constitutional development.”
The U.S. representatives’ visit comes after Beijing blocked a group of U.K. politicians from traveling to Hong Kong during the Occupy protests in November last year. The group of politicians were part of the U.K. parliamentary committee on foreign affairs. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed the British delegation’s planned trip was an interference in Chinese domestic affairs and said Beijing had the right to block the trip because foreign affairs fall under the central government’s authority, and not the Hong Kong government’s.
Mr. Salmon, who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, said that this week’s visit—part of an Asia itinerary that also included Vietnam—was arranged by the U.S. State Department and the Hong Kong government.
The congressmen said they weren't in Hong Kong to offer policy prescriptions—which Mr. Salmon said would be “arrogant”—but to meet with both opposition and pro-establishment politicians to learn about Hong Kong’s political situation.
The delegation’s neutral tone suggests Hong Kong politics is not a contentious issue in U.S.-China relations. Instead, Mr. Salmon expressed concerns about tensions in the South China Sea and the progress of regional free-trade pacts.
A self-described China hand, Mr. Salmon was a Mormon missionary in Taiwan in the late 1970s and was in Hong Kong during the time of its handover back to Chinese rule in 1997. He assumed the chairmanship of the Asia subcommittee five months ago.
Hong Kong lawmakers are due to vote on the government’s electoral-reform package in late June, but the bloc of 27 pro-democracy lawmakers have vowed to vote down the package because they say doesn't allow for genuine universal suffrage.
According to Beijing’s wishes, Hong Kong voters can elect the chief executive in 2017, but candidates standing in the election must be prescreened by a nominating committee that is heavily stacked with pro-Beijing and pro-business interests.
The congressmen said they quizzed Hong Kong politicians on the possibility of compromise, with Mr. Salmon calling it “a necessary thing that we have to do sometimes, to move ahead,” but that it became apparent that the time for compromise had already passed.
“It was clear to me that there is no room for any negotiation, that the negotiating has already been done, and that going forward it’s take it or leave it,” Mr. Salmon said.
Write to Isabella Steger at isabella.steger@wsj.com and Ned Levin at ned.levin@wsj.com
_____
1 COMMENT:
Robert Scheppy 9 hours ago
Leung was silent, because he was waiting for orders from Beijing.
***
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
10052015
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là ĐỒNG LÕA với TỘI ÁC
No comments:
Post a Comment