President Trump for once was the cautious outlier as lawmakers of both parties in Congress warned China not to crack down on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, as tensions continued to simmer Wednesday over the enclave’s fate.
Critics in Congress also took aim at Mr. Trump, who has been uncharacteristically muted in his response to the escalating clashes, though the State Department said Wednesday it was “deeply concerned” by reports that China’s communist leaders have been assembling military assets near Hong Kong and warned Beijing to respect Hong Kong’s political and economic autonomy.
Mr. Trump, locked in a raging trade war with China, has told reporters he wants the Hong Kong standoff to work out for “everybody, including China.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, issued statements strongly supporting the Hong Kong protesters. The bipartisan leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee squarely faulted Beijing for the unrest and rejected Chinese charges that Washington was secretly encouraging the unrest.
“It is Beijing’s actions that are at the root of the frustration among the people of Hong Kong,” wrote Chairman Eliot L. Engel, New York Democrat, and Rep. Michael T. McCaul of Texas, the panel’s ranking Republican. “No foreign powers are fomenting this dissent. It is the result of Beijing’s successive violations of their commitment to honor the will of the people of Hong Kong.”
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05.13.2025