The political and economic confrontation between China and the United States that escalated during the Trump presidency seems to be continuing to grow. Just recently, Chinese authorities launched a crackdown on a network of pro-Western NGOs and activists that were employed to destabilize the situation in Hong Kong and fuel separatist intentions there. The tensions between the sides over the situation in Hong Kong, the South China Sea and a variety of other topics are just a part of the ongoing US-Chinese standoff.
Therefore, the conflict between the sides will continue escalating in the coming years regardless the administration in the White House and the composition of the Senate and Congress. Joe Biden and forces behind his rigged victory in the presidential election will likely turn back from Trump’s national-oriented economic policy and ‘normalize’ relations with China once again reconsidering Russia as Enemy #1. This will not help to remove the insoluble contradictions with China and reverse the trend towards the confrontation.
The article of ZeroHedge showed below is a visual demonstration of this trend and intentions of the US society in the light of this situation.
The text below originally appeared at ZeroHedge
Update 11:00pm ET: In what would be a shocking development, Bloomberg reports that during its “massive crackdown” purging countless local activists and politicians, the Hong Kong police – i.e. China – has arrested American Lawyer, John Clancey, using as a pretext the National Security Law, which everyone warned China would use as strawman to crack down on Hong Kong citizens and activists. Well, it now appears that the emboldened Beijing – which is delighted by the ascent of pro-China pushover Joe Biden to the White House – is also using that law to arrest American citizens.
In response, Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sent out a harshly worded tweet, warning China that the “Biden-Harris administration will stand with the people of Hong Kong and against Beijing’s crackdown on democracy.”
The sweeping arrests of pro-democracy demonstrators are an assault on those bravely advocating for universal rights. The Biden-Harris administration will stand with the people of Hong Kong and against Beijing’s crackdown on democracy. https://t.co/nSj8dr3OEg
— Antony Blinken (@ABlinken) January 6, 2021
We eagerly await to see just what the Blinken Biden administration will do, besides tweeting angrily in China’s general direction, to secure release of an American citizen unjustly arrested by Chinese proxies in Hong Kong.
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Earlier: “Massive Crackdown”: Hong Kong Police Arrest Dozens Of Politicians & Activists
2021 is less than a week old and already Beijing is ramping up its efforts to suppress what’s left of the pro-democracy opposition in Hong Kong. Right now, China hawks are preoccupied right now by a number of issues: the disappearance of Jack Ma (note: CNBC claims the Alibaba founder is just “laying low”), Beijing’s refusal to allow international investigators inside the Wuhan Institue of Virology and, finally, the CCP’s abusive treatment of China’s Uyghur Muslim minority.
Now, less than two months after the last 19 members of the HK LegCo’s pro-democracy opposition quit en masse over Beijing’s demands that they swear a loyalty oath to uphold the new national security law and the supremacy of the CCP, Hong Kong police have rounded up dozens of pro-democracy activists. The arrests – described by western journalists as a “massive crackdown” – essentially confirm what many feared: all pro-democracy activists who haven’t escaped Hong Kong will likely face arrest and imprisonment.
According to various media reports, police are rounding up dozens of pro-democracy politicians and activists.
Massive crackdown underway in Hong Kong.
— Jillian Kay Melchior (@JillianKayM) January 6, 2021
With at least two student leaders – including Joshua Wong – already heading to prison, Wednesday’s arrests mark the biggest crackdown under the new national security law, according to the NYT, one former opposition lawmaker was participating in a live video chat when he got the knock at the door.
A twitter account run by Wong’s supporters claimed that his house was raided during the sweep with the arrests.
#BREAKING Police also raided Joshua’s home for allegedly violating the national security law this morning as he took part in the primary election last year. 50+ democratic activists were arrested.
— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) January 6, 2021
Another six former LegCo members were among those who were arrested.
The alleged offenses also underscored government officials’ efforts to weaken any meaningful opposition in the city’s political institutions. Among those arrested were at least six former Legislative Council members, a number of district councilors — a hyperlocal elected position dominated by pro-democracy figures — and several activists. They included figures who had called for aggressive confrontation with the authorities and those who had supported more moderate tactics.
According to social media pages belonging to some of those arrested, the activists were accused of trying to “subvert state power”. The charges were tied to their participation in the informal LegCo vote held over the summer.
An informal primary election for the LegCo held in July delivered an uncomfortably large margin of victory to the pro-Democracy candidates. It’s widely believed this vote deeply bothered Beijing, possibly prompting it to accelerate its crackdown on HK, which once functioned as a that once functioned as an autonomous city state. With its political independence now in tatters, any pro-democracy activists who haven’t already left the city will probably be on the next train or plane out – unless they’re detained first.
But an even bigger question: With Beijing’s crackdowns growing increasingly brazen, how will American institutions like the NBA continue to justify doing business in China?
*HONG KONG EX-LAWMAKERS ARRESTED UNDER NATIONAL SECURITY LAW
Beijing will have to double its payments to the NBA to keep this under wraps
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 5, 2021
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