Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Page S2624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on an entirely different matter, these
events only compound what has already been a historically challenging
time for our country.
As our Nation continues to combat and contain the coronavirus, the
Senate will continue to lead the response. To name one example, I hope
and anticipate the Senate will soon take up and pass legislation that
just passed the House by an overwhelming vote of 417 to 1 to further
strengthen the Paycheck Protection Program so it continues working for
small businesses that need our help.
Even as we fight the pandemic, we will remember that other challenges
face our Nation as well. Foreign adversaries are all too eager to
exploit a distracted world.
In recent days, agents of the Chinese Communist Party have taken to
social media to openly taunt--openly taunt--the United States and
defend their violent crackdown on the autonomy of Hong Kong.
It has been almost a year since the world watched Hongkongers embark
on the latest round of peaceful demonstrations against the repressive
grip of the Chinese Communist Party. The world watched as Hong Kong
voters, with American flags in hand, dealt crushing defeats to
Beijing's preferred puppet candidates in elections last fall. But in
recent weeks, as the coronavirus pandemic that China exacerbated has
dominated the world's attention, the Chinese Communist Party is trying
yet again to tighten their grip. New laws--supposedly related to
national security--aim to stifle dissent and curtail Hongkongers' civil
liberties.
When I authored the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Act way back in 1992, we
wanted to ensure future Chinese regimes would respect the promises made
regarding this unique, autonomous region, so we made sure the weight
and suasion of the United States of America would stand with
Hongkongers if need be.
Unfortunately, these years later, such a time is upon us. Among other
examples, we received word today that for the first time in 30 years--
30 years--authorities in Hong Kong will not allow the annual
candlelight vigil that commemorates the Tiananmen Square massacre to
occur. For the first time in 30 years, no commemoration of the
Tiananmen massacre will occur in Hong Kong. For three decades, Hong
Kong has been the only place in China where full-scale remembrances of
the massacre are permitted, but now they, too, will be going dark.
So I am encouraged that Secretary Pompeo is tapping into that law to
formally certify that Beijing's systemic efforts to interfere in Hong
Kong have eroded the region's autonomy. I might say this is exactly
what we were concerned about back in 1992 when the Hong Kong Policy Act
was introduced by me and became law--exactly what we feared.
I hope that the administration will soon identify the specific ways
it will impose costs on Beijing and, just as important, continue
American support for the people of Hong Kong. Under my original
legislation, several tools are available. Their primary aim is to be an
effective friend and partner for Hongkongers who share values of
democracy and freedom and to help preserve the region's unique
character, autonomy, and prosperity.
Our Nation's commitment to those efforts must remain ironclad, and it
must be 100 percent clear that the responsibility for threatening Hong
Kong's economic, political, and social climate rests solely and
squarely on the Chinese Communist Party--the regime that views free
thought as a fundamental evil; the regime that sees peaceful
demonstrations as an existential challenge. That is who is to blame for
this, no matter what the Communist Party's two-bit propaganda is trying
to claim--not the people of Hong Kong, not their friends in the United
States, just the would-be tyrants in Beijing.
Last year, as Congress passed Senator Rubio's update to my Hong Kong
Policy Act, I also secured additional funding to provide legal
protections to Hong Kong protestors and support democracy promotion
activities. But if China moves in the coming days and weeks to
implement its draconian new laws that strangle Hong Kong, there will be
no rule of law left for protesters to appeal to. That is why the U.S.
response should mirror those of other democracies that open their doors
to Hongkongers fleeing oppression. Our Nation has a rich heritage of
standing as a beacon of light and freedom, from refugees of war to
those escaping the Iron Curtain. We should exercise it again for the
people of Hong Kong.
Finally, while we address these latest aggressions, we must not miss
the broader lessons. The Communist Party of China does not play by the
rules. They don't--not the rules of the international economy; not the
rules of its bilateral agreements with other nations; not even its own
rules, which are increasingly subject to the whims of President Xi.
Whether they are cracking down on Hong Kong, trying to cover up a
pandemic, or herding ethnic and religious minorities into modern-day
gulags, this generation of Chinese leadership is telling the rest of
the world every single day exactly who they are--exactly who they are.
America and the world have watched China deepen its tyranny at home,
assert its hegemony abroad, and undermine basic norms that protect the
peace. The question before us is, What will we do to stop it?
____________________