香港抗议者把美国当救星 中国嗅到了阴谋的味道…(图)

Rosanna

文章来源: 纽约时报





抗议者上个月在香港集会。 LAM YIK FEI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

香港的抗议有时看起来像是与美国惺惺相惜。示威者有时挥舞美国国旗或山姆大叔征兵海报，甚至装扮成手持盾牌的美国队长。

美国代表着民主，活动人士希望，也许，只是也许，它会拯救香港。五个月过去了，他们比以往任何时候都更努力地试图把美国拉进他们的运动。

抗议者正在向香港官员和他们的上级——专制的中国共产党领导人——施压，要求在这个自治地区获得更多的民主权利和法治。在他们看来，特朗普政府或许能够向中国领导人或香港官员提出要求，尤其是因为精英政治群体希望保持与美国的联系。

此外，他们指出，由特朗普总统发起的对华贸易战，也给习近平主席带来了更大的压力。

而抗议活动对美国政府而言就没那么简单了——既是一个潜在的政策困境，又是对北京施加影响的潜在方式，同时也是将美国价值观传递到世界其他地方的途径。

“美国应该继续阻止北京使用武力，持续地关注香港，让限制香港公民的权利和自由的北京付出巨大的声誉成本，”前国务院和国家安全委员会官员、现供职于布鲁金斯学会(Brookings Institution)的何瑞恩(Ryan Hass)说。

不过，他还说，“我担心香港的抗议者会误解美国对他们事业的同情和支持，以为可以指望美国保护他们免受北京的高压手段。”





一些抗议者将美国视为他们争取更大民主权利的潜在救星。 LAM YIK FEI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

如果说抗议者唱出了一首塞壬之歌，那么一些美国官员和议员也做出了应和，积极表达他们对这项事业的承诺。

一些国会议员出现在香港，公开表示支持。上个月，得克萨斯州共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹(Ted Cruz)一袭黑衣露面，而密苏里州共和党参议员乔希·霍利(Josh Hawley)贴出了抗议活动的照片。

在华盛顿，众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)会见了活动人士、亲民主政治人物、被北京视为危险人物的出版商黎智英。副总统迈克·彭斯(Mike Pence)在演讲中特别提到香港是自由的灯塔，他说：“我们与你们站在一起；我们被你们鼓舞着。”

一项支持抗议者的法案的多个版本正在走国会程序，得到两党的支持。该法案将允许美国对被认为侵犯人权的香港官员实施经济制裁和旅行禁令。

“我们希望这项法案能通过，”27岁的抗议者赛琳娜·蒲（Selina Po，音）说，她戴着口罩，在金钟附近举着一块牌子，上面写有法案名称，即《香港人权和民主法案》(Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act)。“这是我们赢得这场战争的希望。我们正在竭尽全力。”

但美国官员表示，美国需要仔细权衡。

美国人的更多介入，可能会给北京提供更多宣传弹药，把这场民主运动描绘成一场由外国势力煽动起来的运动。

中国政府和官方新闻机构都在谈论骚乱背后的“黑手”，并传播阴谋论，包括一名在香港的美国外交官被拍到与活动人士在万豪酒店大堂见面。

随着抗议活动持续，美国官员正密切关注暴力活动的激增，并追踪解放军进入香港的动向。一些人恳求示威者坚持非暴力策略，即使面对警察镇压和北京支持者的攻击。

周日，一名据信反对民主运动的持刀男子袭击了一家购物中心，造成至少6人受伤。在混战中，袭击者咬掉了民主派区议员赵家贤的一块耳朵。

“我们告诉和我们交流的所有人，我们不想要暴力，”美国国务卿迈克·庞皮欧(Mike Pompeo)于周三表示。“我们认为应该使用政治方案来解决那里的冲突。”

两位民主党国会议员，纽约的汤姆·索齐(Tom Suozzi)和佐治亚州的美国民权运动标志人物约翰·刘易斯(John Lewis)，在上个月发布了一段视频，赞扬了活动人士的“杰出工作”，并敦促他们坚持非暴力。

美国是否会就香港问题采取更大的行动，取决于不可预测的特朗普。政府官员和美国立法者公开谈论遏制中国共产党的专制冲动。但总统很少（如果有的话）提及人权和民主，他也没有对香港问题发表过强硬的声明。

他是一个爱做交易的总统。据一位不愿透露姓名的美国官员说，今年6月他在电话中告诉习近平，只要华盛顿和北京在贸易谈判方面取得进展，他就会对香港问题保持沉默。

去年10月，特朗普政府因中国企业和组织在中国大陆大规模镇压穆斯林的行动中扮演的角色，对它们施加了一些限制，但由于担心破坏贸易协议，他没有采取更严厉的行动。

分析人士称，如果香港的法案送到特朗普的办公桌上，总统可能只会将其视为迫使中国让步的工具，如果贸易协议即将达成，则可能会放弃支持。

“美国两党对和平抗议者的坚决支持，不足以推翻特朗普总统的交易本能，”何瑞恩说。“他不会透过基于价值观的视角看待香港。并且只要他继续担任总统，这种可能性将限制美国对香港事态进展的反应。”

政府官员辩称，特朗普的做法有利于美国在香港问题上制约北京——即便看起来，特朗普只想利用这块中国领土为自己获利。

“美国希望北京信守承诺，”彭斯说，“总统也一再明确表示，如果当局在香港对抗议者使用暴力，则双方将更难达成贸易协议。”

在北京眼里，美国政客的挑衅并不少见。10月22日，佩洛西在Twitter上发了一张她本人在国会山与三名民主人物的合影——黎智英、李柱铭和彭家维。

“我全力支持和钦佩那些日复一日走上街头举行非暴力抗议，为 #HongKong 的民主与法制而战的人，”她写道。

周三，佩洛西抨击了香港官员禁止活动人士黄之锋参加地方选举的决定。她说，这是“对香港法制和‘一国两制’原则的又一次打击，”她指的是英中两国同意用来治理该地区的自治政策的基础。

佩洛西曾于9月在华盛顿会见黄之锋。

中国外交部发言人华春莹猛烈抨击称，“正是由于佩洛西这样的人这种赤裸裸的包庇纵容、煽风点火，那些暴力违法分子才更加有恃无恐。”

“无论你们的双眼如何被偏见蒙蔽，你们的内心如何被邪恶充斥，香港都是中国的香港，”这名发言人接着说。“任何干预香港事务的企图都不会得逞。”

许多示威者希望美国介入，他们的关注点集中在立法上。他们说，仅仅是美国制裁的威胁，都会让该运动对北京发出更大的声音。

10月14日，即美国众议院就该法案进行表决的前一天晚上，抗议者在中环举行集会，要求通过法案。数万人参加了集会，其中许多人手持美国国旗。

“香港人自身的力量是有限的，我们需要美国等其他国家帮助我们对抗中国，并维持‘一国两制’，”现年32岁的埃里克·关（Eric Kwan，音）说。“我不太相信法案能成为一股破局的终极力量，但我认为它足以给中国施加压力。”

除允许实施制裁外，该法案要求美国国务院每年审查香港的自治程度是否足以享受1992年《香港政策法案》(Hong Kong Policy Act)的优惠待遇，该法案赋予香港与中国大陆不同的经贸地位。

一些美国官员称，如果美国认定香港不再是一个自治实体，该法案可能会损害香港居民的利益。但法案的支持者为其实践和象征价值做了辩护。

“支持香港人和维护香港的自治应该是美国及全世界民主国家的优先事项，”法案的支持者之一、佛罗里达州共和党参议员马可·卢比奥(Marco Rubio)说。

法案上个月在众议院以全票通过。尽管参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)尚未安排投票，但该法案预计将在参议院轻松获得多数通过，不会遭到否决。此后特朗普将必须决定是否将其签署为法律。

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这篇文章揭示出来的问题很复杂，，，，  总之在香港问题上中共是首先违反人权、违反法规、违反人道主义的—— 它不但没有丝毫检讨自己罪恶的勇气，反而还污蔑“香港有境外敌对势力支持”———— 流氓痞子从来都是这副丑恶嘴脸滴！………………

【路透社】《香港人权与民主法案》在参议院受阻，已知有九名参议员反对该法案；川普表态：若贸易谈判有进展，他将对香港问题沉默

https://www.reuters.com/article/ ... acles-idUSKBN1XF2GW

Effort in U.S. Congress to rein in China on Hong Kong protests faces obstacles

November 6, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A push in the U.S. Congress for legislation to support pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and pressure China to refrain from a violent crackdown faces an array of obstacles, raising questions about the prospect it will ever become law.

The fate of the legislation could depend in part on whether lawmakers who represent states with companies heavily invested in the Chinese market can overcome concerns about Beijing’s retaliation against U.S. businesses.

The outlook is further clouded by a cautious response on Hong Kong by the Trump administration at a crucial juncture for U.S.-China trade talks and uncertainty over whether congressional leaders will make the issue a priority on a crowded end-of-year agenda.

The House of Representatives unanimously passed Hong Kong human rights legislation in mid-October, including a bill that would place Hong Kong’s special treatment by the United States under tighter scrutiny, drawing accusations from Beijing that the lawmakers had “sinister intentions.”

A Senate committee approved a similar measure in September, but it has not been scheduled for a vote by the full body, which is required before legislation can be sent to President Donald Trump. The White House has yet to say whether he would sign or veto it.

Even as Hong Kong activists have set their hearts on stronger U.S. action, which they see as vital to a movement that has drawn millions to the streets, the issue remains largely up in the air in Washington.

The bill’s delay - against a backdrop of increasingly dangerous clashes between protesters and police - has been a source of frustration for lawmakers whose overwhelming support for the legislation cuts across party lines.

“Your guess is as good as mine as to why something that enjoys that broad, bipartisan support - and on an issue that’s acute and happening now - has not reached the floor of the U.S. Senate,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a leading China hawk and the bill’s chief co-sponsor, told Reuters.

TRUMP GOES SILENT ON HONG KONG

Looming over the Hong Kong crisis is the bitter trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump has said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon sign a “Phase One” trade deal, his administration’s top priority with Beijing.

At an Oct. 11 meeting in the Oval Office, Trump told Chinese Vice Premier Liu He he would keep quiet on the Hong Kong protests as long as progress was being made on trade, according to two people briefed on the discussions.

The White House did not respond to a question on whether Trump made such a promise or if the administration was concerned the Hong Kong situation could complicate trade talks.

While Trump has since avoided publicly criticizing China over Hong Kong, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have spoken out against Beijing’s human rights record in Hong Kong and elsewhere, including its treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

The legislation reflects an increasingly hard-line sentiment among some of Trump’s fellow Republicans and many Democrats over what they see as Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong Kong.

Protesters are campaigning against what they see as Chinese meddling with the freedoms promised under the “one country-two systems” formula when Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997. China denies doing so, and has blamed Western countries for stirring up trouble.

The U.S. bills would amend existing law to require annual certification from the State Department that Hong Kong remains sufficiently autonomous from Beijing to justify the unique treatment by Washington that has helped it to develop into a major financial center.

China has threatened unspecified countermeasures, prompting the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong to warn of “counterproductive consequences” of the legislation that could hurt U.S. businesses.

That has given rise to speculation that some senators, especially those in agricultural states or with major China-dependent businesses, would prefer a go-slow approach and might even work behind the scenes to block the legislation.

Mark Simon, a Hong Kong-based executive for Next Media, a media group funded by pro-democracy businessman Jimmy Lai, is pessimistic about the Senate bill’s near-term prospects after a recent round of meetings with members of Congress in Washington.

Simon expressed concern that as many as nine senators might have objections to the bill – though none has said so publicly. “The U.S. Senate, by refusing to stand up for Hong Kong, is editing our political process in order to sell some grain, pork, and planes,” he told Reuters.

Rubio said he had not heard objections from fellow senators, but noted it could be “somehow wrapped up in the broader trade issues and fear that it could unravel that.”

‘FOREIGN BLACK HAND’

Despite activists’ clamoring for U.S. action, some experts say it could be counterproductive.

Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, said the legislation “would play into Beijing’s hands by claiming it as evidence of the existence of a ‘foreign black hand’ behind the protests in Hong Kong.”

Bills similar to the current legislation have been introduced and gone nowhere in the past three Congresses, but the protracted crisis in Hong Kong has helped the measures advance further than previously.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment. But a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said the administration was prepared to let the congressional process run its course.

It is unclear whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will set a vote on a bill during an already jammed schedule in the final weeks of the 2019 session, including the threat of a federal government shutdown and looming impeachment proceedings against Trump.

One way to get around those obstacles, congressional aides say, would be to attach the Hong Kong legislation to a broader Senate bill on defense or the budget.