In case you haven’t noticed, Hong Kong is a hot mess. When the British handed the city back over to the Chinese Communists in 1997, it was only a matter of time before the free people of Hong Kong would collide with the authoritarian government on the mainland. The first protests came in 2003, then another wave in 2014. Now, with this extradition bill gambit by the Communists in Beijing, the citizens of this vibrant and democratic city have apparently found the straw sent to break their backs. As of this morning, thousands of protesters are still occupying the second busiest air port in the world, and the patience of the autocrats in power seems near its end.
When President Obama failed to wholeheartedly come out in rapturous support of the Arab Spring back in 2011, he was widely criticized for his inadequate response. I defended him at the time. Now, Trump is being criticized for his tepid support for the protesters, accused of being more concerned with getting a trade deal with the Chi-Coms than defending freedom and democracy. Now, I write in his defense. Actually, it’s his job to get a trade deal with the Chinese. It’s not his job to defend democracy around the world.
Sure, if I had to pick a side here, I’m all in on the protesters. In a perfect world we would throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at the Chinese government. Who wouldn’t prefer the triumph of free people over tyranny? But, we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a world of interconnected trade, and interconnected interests. Our desired response is limited by our inability to project power at will and without consequence. For those asking for more from Trump, a more forceful defense of freedom and democracy, let me paint you a picture.
If these protests continue much longer, and I find no evidence that they won’t, the thugs in Beijing will revert to what they know best. Does anyone remember Tiananmen Square? Yes, at some point very soon, the Chi-Coms will send in the heat. When they do, and there are tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbling through the streets, how are we exactly supposed to support democracy then? Send in the First Armored Division? Launch WWIII over Hong Kong democracy, defending one of the most opulent cities in the world? As much as I loathe the Chinese Communists...this is their problem. How many times in the past fifty years have we gotten into trouble by playing the roll of the World’s Policeman?
What I support is minding our own business as a nation. The list of things I object to when it comes to the current occupant of the White House is a mile long, but insufficient support for Hong Kong democracy isn’t one of the them.
