By Associated Press | December 3, 2014
Last Updated: December 3, 2014 7:52 pm
Police beat pro-democracy protesters with batons as they drive protesters off Lung Wo Road outside Central Government Complex on December 1, 2014 in Hong Kong. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON—The world is watching how China deals with Hong Kong and its commitments to preserve freedoms there amid continuing tensions over pro-democracy protests, the United States’ top diplomat for East Asia said Wednesday.
Top diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, told a Senate panel Wednesday the U.S. supports the right of citizens of the semi-autonomous Chinese city to a free election for its chief executive in 2017.
Despite recent signs of warming U.S.-China ties, the situation in Hong Kong, one of Asia’s leading financial centers, sits on a long list of irritants. Russel denied Chinese allegations that the U.S. has helped foment the more than two months of protests, which he said weren’t driven by outsiders but by Hong Kong people speaking out about their future.
“The United States has been urging and counseling China to exercise restraint and flexibility and to allow the voices of the people of Hong Kong to be heard,” he told a subcommittee overseeing Asia policy.
Russel added: “The legitimacy of Hong Kong’s chief executive will be greatly enhanced if the promise of universal suffrage is fulfilled.”
“This means allowing for a competitive election in which a range of candidates with differing policy approaches are given an opportunity to seek the support of eligible Hong Kong voters,” said the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, according to an AFP report.
MORE: Hong Kong Umbrella Movement FAQ — What Are Protesters Demanding and Why It Matters
On Wednesday in Hong Kong, three protest leaders surrendered to police and called for an end to the increasingly violent demonstrations. Students are still occupying two sites after clashes with police earlier this week as they tried to surround city government headquarters.
Russel described that flare-up as “alarming” and called for all sides to lower tensions.
Senator Marco Rubio, a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, accused China of contradicting an agreement reached with Britain before the 1997 handover of the former colony. Under a mini constitution known as the Basic Law that has governed Hong Kong since then, the city has enjoyed more liberty than people in mainland China.
The protesters are demanding China’s government scrap its requirement that candidates in the 2017 election be approved by a panel chosen by Beijing.
Rubio said China clearly wants a Hong Kong leader that will do its own bidding and had proven itself to be an “untrustworthy partner.”
Russel said China had not literally violated its commitment to allow “universal suffrage” by deciding to limit the pool of candidates, but it had fallen short of the aspirations of people in Hong Kong. A freer choice would enhance the legitimacy of the chief executive, he said.
“There’s no question the United States, the region and the world is watching how China deals with Hong Kong and how it implements its commitments under the Basic Law,” he said.
More to be Done
Rights activists at the Senate panel pressed the U.S. to do more.
Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, said that declarations of US support for the Umbrella Movement protestors had not “reached the people in Hong Kong who needed or wanted to hear it,” AFP reports.
“I think the US continues to be quite inconsistent about issues of political rights and democracy in Hong Kong and China, relative to the kind of support that it chooses for those issues in other parts of the world.”
In defense, Russel said that Washington is encouraging fully democratic elections in Hong Kong and supports the protesters. He added that the U.S. takes “the side of justice, we take the side of freedom.”
But Sen. Rubio notes that most of the U.S. comments on Hong Kong are not about “standing on behalf of the people who are fighting,” AFP reports.
Rubio added that China’s current regional and global standing has created a “realpolitik” circumstance where the U.S. is afraid of ruining “relationship with the Chinese.”
“That’s the message that people are taking and I think it’s a counter-productive one,” Rubio said.
http://m.theepochtimes.com/n3/1119728-us-world-watching-china-handling-of-hong-kong-protests/
