[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 23, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4984-S4985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               HONG KONG

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on one final matter, in recent weeks, 
I have spoken about our Nation's renewed competition with other great 
powers, like Russia and China. Despite decades of efforts to welcome 
these nations into a peaceful, prosperous, and fair international 
system, we are constantly reminded that these nations have their own 
design on the future. In their visions, foundational principles of 
sovereignty, freedom, human rights, and a rules-based international 
order tend to take a backseat to power politics and the pursuit of 
hegemony.
  The Chinese Communist Party, for example, is working to extend its 
control and influence everywhere from Taiwan to Cambodia, to Laos, to 
Burma, to Hong Kong, as we have seen recently. The tools and tactics 
may differ but the goal is the same: Beijing wants to bend its 
neighbors to its will.
  Earlier this month, after historic protests, Hong Kong's Government 
hit pause on legislation that would have further eroded its autonomy 
and invited more meddling from the mainland, but victory for freedom 
and autonomy is not yet assured. The bill in question has been 
suspended, but it hasn't been totally withdrawn.
  Hong Kong's people, emboldened by this rare victory over Beijing's 
creeping influence, have continued to exercise their freedom of 
assembly to reclaim the rights, privileges, and autonomy slowly sliced 
away in recent years by the PRC.
  Protests continue and with them countervailing pressures from 
authorities beholden to Beijing. Increasingly brutal police tactics and 
pro-mainland vigilantes are drawing blood in an effort to intimidate 
Hongkongers back into submission.
  Hong Kong's autonomous governance, political freedoms, and stable 
rule of law has been a crucial precondition of its tremendous growth 
and prosperity. U.S. firms have invested tens of billions in Hong 
Kong's economy because they trust the autonomous region's political 
climate, independent judicial system, and degree of independence from 
Beijing.
  By contrast, international firms are currently pulling back from 
China due to concerns about corruption, autocracy, intellectual 
property rights violations, and state-sponsored corporate espionage.
  At a time when China faces slowing growth, Beijing should seek to 
emulate Hong Kong, not engulf Hong Kong and remake it in the image of 
the Chinese Communist Party.
  The PRC has long been working hard under the surface to increase its 
influence and power. In Hong Kong, like in so many other areas, China 
has used this approach that experts have called ``hide and bide''--
hiding their intentions and biding their time, slowly slicing away 
resistance, building leverage, and encroaching, one step at a time.
  In the case of Hong Kong, Beijing and its agents have overreached, 
but they are recalculating--postponing action on this legislation while 
biding time to resume the encroachment.
  This is not just a matter of the people of Hong Kong. The PRC's 
treatment of Hong Kong--just like its treatment of the Uighurs or 
Tibetans that Beijing claims as citizens--is an indicator of how 
Chinese rulers will behave abroad. All nations who trade with the PRC 
should be watching the drama unfolding on the streets of Hong Kong.
  The world is watching and wondering: If a government cannot respect 
the basic rights of people it claims as its own citizens, why on Earth 
would it be trusted to respect the rights and interests of its 
neighbors, its trading partners, or the companies that invest in its 
economy?
  As we all know, the people of Hong Kong have been carrying the banner 
for decades. I am proud to say that here in the United States, we have 
been marching alongside them the entire way. Back in 1992, I was proud 
to author the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Act and helped codify America's 
stance on the special status of Hong Kong.
  So on the 70th anniversary of the PRC and the 30th anniversary of the 
Tiananmen Square massacre, I am grateful the administration and 
Congress, on a bipartisan basis, are reexamining America's relationship 
with

[[Page S4985]]

the PRC. I am grateful for the bipartisan work my colleagues have done 
on this important issue, and I am confident Congress will continue to 
hold hearings and stay vigilant on the subject of autonomy and 
democracy in Hong Kong, as well as China's overall strategy and its 
implications for the United States, our allies, and the entire world.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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