The international response to China’s latest power grab is uncertain. What can Taiwan do to help a Hong Kong under siege?

The Diplomat
Date: June 08, 2020
By: Wu Jieh-min

OPINION

Hong Kong participants attend a candlelight vigil at Democracy Square in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 4, 2020, to mark the 31st anniversary of the Chinese military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

China’s National People’s Congress has passed a seven-point decision paving the way for legislation

to apply a national security law to Hong Kong. One primary goal is to prevent “foreign forces interfering with Hong Kong affairs,” a phrase repeated three times in the bill. Beijing’s attempt to install its repressive national security apparatus is in effect laying the first building block of a “Berlin Wall” separating Hong Kong from the outside world and will gravely restrict the former colony’s global political connections. One of the countries that would be most deeply affected if the legislation comes into force is Taiwan, which has aided Hong Kongers in their civil protests over the years, especially during the Anti-Extradition Movement.

We are in unsettling and precarious times. The U.S.-China rivalry has upset the global order and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating. While the United States is occupied with nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice, an unbridled Beijing has decided to speed up its power grab in Hong Kong.

The United States is trying to lead a coalition to agree on sanctions against China. But apart from a handful of countries that have shown limited support — the United Kingdom has pledged to offer visas to Hong Kongers, for instance — the coalition seems weak so far. The Australian government signed a joint statement expressing deep concern but is not considering sanctions. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has asserted that fundamental divisions between China and the European Union should not prevent dialogue and cooperation. The Chinese market remains a lure for most Western countries.    [FULL  STORY]