It’s no secret that the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America have been experiencing a rift between one another for many years now. This rift has blossomed in the past two years with a trade war between the two nations, whereby each of them has levied tariffs on thousands of exports against one another, stemming from a few tariffs levied initially by United States President Donald Trump in early 2018. The trade war, although officials have held a number of meetings with the goal of stopping it over this time, isn’t likely to begin slowing down anytime soon.
Another major issue that China has had is with Hong Kong, a largely autonomous region formally owned by China and governed by the world’s most populated country’s government. Since Hong Kong’s control was taken over by China some seven decades ago, China promised not to govern Hong Kong’s ongoings too much, giving Hong Kong autonomy.
However, earlier this year China attempted to pass a law that would allow the government to selectively force anybody living in or simply visiting Hong Kong to be shipped to the Chinese mainland to face prosecution for just about anything. Residents of Hong Kong have protested en masse against this proposed law over the past few months, making the Chinese government nothing short of angry with residents of Hong Kong for not listening to their demands.
Recently, less than a week ago, the United States federal government signed a bill into law that supports protesters throughout the region. If the U.S. deems China responsible for violating the human rights of residents of Hong Kong, via what’s formally known as the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, the American government could hand down big-time sanctions on China, seriously harming the country’s international economy.
China isn’t happy about the move, as, just yesterday, on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019, China officially banned all United States military aircraft and warships from stopping in Hong Kong. This news came directly from China’s Foreign Ministry, which was represented by Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the government agency.
Ms. Chunying also shared that China would be sanctioning a handful of non-government organizations that deal with human rights that have been reporting on the ongoing Hong Kong protests and keeping tabs on what’s going on in the region.
The United States military docks warships within various countries around the world from time to time, having docked USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier, into Hong Kong just last year.
Dil Bole Oberoi
