How the US can help Hong Kong
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| Hong Kong at night // photo my own |
This is a mistake at this time. Completely removing the special administrative zone status completely would stifle trade and mostly just harm the people of Hong Kong, not so much its government. Far better would be to maintain its status, but alter the policies governing that zone to sanction certain individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party instead of carpet bombing the US-Hong Kong relationship.
But by far the easiest thing to do to help the people of Hong Kong is to allow wide latitude for them to emigrate to the United States. The United Kingdom has pledged to extend visas and possibly lift the length of stay limit entirely. Taiwan, who has recently elected Tsai Ing-Wen as well as a majority of the legislature who backs Taiwan independence, also has voiced support for immigration of Hong Kong citizens to Taiwan.
What about the United States?
It would be great if we would allow large amounts of Hong Kong citizens to emigrate to the United States. Unfortunately, we have a xenophobic president in the White House that ran on and has been active in pursuing anti-immigration policies.
And that's too bad. The United States could use more people like them. They turned a fishing village into the massive economic powerhouse in the South China Sea in mere decades. Their protests have been largely nonviolent, with just about all of the violence perpetrated by those opposing them. It is a very sophisticated populace, filled with people of outstanding character.
And it would allow people to vote with their feet and escape the brutal communist regime of China. It's a moral tradition of this country that we need to return to. Not for the sake of tradition, but because it's the right thing to do.
