Washington/Beijing:
Washington may well sanction these involved in the arrest of more than 50 folks in Hong Kong and will send the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to check out Taiwan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated on Thursday, drawing anger and the threat of retaliation from Beijing.
Pompeo stated he was also “appalled” by the arrest of an American citizen in Wednesday’s crackdown and added: “The United States will not tolerate the arbitrary detention or harassment of U.S. citizens.”
Pompeo’s statement came immediately after a day of turmoil in Washington that saw supporters of President Donald Trump storm Congress in a bid to overturn his November election defeat. Trump lastly conceded on Thursday that Joe Biden, who is due to be sworn in on Jan. 20, will be the subsequent U.S. president.
Editorials in China’s state media on Friday stated the attack on the Capitol reflected a failure of leadership as nicely as the deep divide in American society and accused U.S. politicians of “double standards.”
“In Hong Kong, violent actions are described as a ‘beautiful sight,’ in the U.S., people involved in this chaos are called ‘mobs’,” stated The Global Times, a tabloid run by the People’s Daily, the newspaper of the ruling Communist Party.
Hong Kong police arrested 53 democracy activists in dawn raids on Wednesday in the greatest crackdown on dissent because China imposed a safety law final year.
Among these detained was American lawyer John Clancey, who was permitted to leave a police station along with some other individuals on Thursday.
Pompeo referred to as the arrests an “outrage and a reminder of the Chinese Communist Party’s contempt for its own people and the rule of law.”
“The United States will consider sanctions and other restrictions on any and all individuals and entities involved in executing this assault on the Hong Kong people,” Pompeo stated.
He stated it would also “explore restrictions against the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in the United States, and take additional immediate actions against officials who have undermined Hong Kong’s democratic processes.”
Pompeo also announced that Kelly Craft, Washington’s U.N. ambassador, would check out Chinese-claimed and democratically run Taiwan, a extremely symbolic trip as the island is not a U.N. member due to the objections of Beijing, which views Taiwan as a wayward province.
“Taiwan shows what a free China could achieve,” he stated.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying stated Pompeo’s comments represented a critical interference in the country’s internal affairs.
“China will take all necessary steps to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and security interests,” Hua told reporters. “The United States must pay a heavy price for its mistakes.”
In a later statement, China’s mission to the United Nations referred to as on Washington “to stop its crazy provocation” and warned that “whoever plays with fire will burn himself.”
Taiwan welcomed Craft’s check out, which will be the 1st of a sitting U.S. ambassador at the U.N. to the island, saying it demonstrated sturdy U.S. help for Taiwan’s international participation.
DAY OF TURMOIL
U.S. lawmakers referred to as the attack on Congress an embarrassment to U.S. democracy that would play into the hands of rivals, and deputy national safety adviser Matt Pottinger, a major figure in the improvement of Trump’s China policy, was amongst a list of officials who quit in protest.
“They’re high-fiving in Beijing,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a China hawk, told Tucker Carlson on the Fox News channel. “It kind of bolsters their claim that we’re falling apart and they’re the country of the future.”
Trump has pursued hardline policies towards China on challenges ranging from trade to espionage and the coronavirus and relations plummeted to their worst level in decades when he ramped up rhetoric in his unsuccessful re-election campaign.
His administration has currently imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for crushing Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and other alleged rights abuses.
After a series of actions against Chinese firms, U.S. officials have been anticipated to talk about a proposed expansion of an executive order banning investment in firms with alleged ties to China’s military at a Thursday afternoon meeting, two folks familiar with the matter stated.
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