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Foreign Policy Update

HONG KONG

In the last six months the world has witnessed freedom after freedom disappear in Hong Kong like pages of a novel unfolding to reveal more of a sinister plot. In the latest chapter this week Beijing pushed through yet another restrictive law that expelled four pro-democracy representatives. In reaction to the Tuesday move the entire opposition quit the Hong Kong Legislative Council. This marks the point when Hong Kong enters a puppet state status with Beijing. Simultaneously, the CCP is forcing education in Hong Kong to include pro-Beijing propaganda as it is no longer illegal to do so and there is no one to stop it.

JAPAN

This week in Washington the US and Japan reaffirmed that Host Nation Support has played an important role for ensuring the smooth and effective activities of the US Forces in Japan. The statement said the relationship remains “central to the US-Japan Alliance.” For more than 60 years the US-Japan Alliance has served as the cornerstone of peace, stability, and freedom in the Indo-Pacific region. With the rise of an aggressive China the Alliance is growing in importance for both nations. The statement comes a week after the conclusion of the 5th Plenum Session of the Chinese Communist Party meeting which reaffirmed its intention for new and aggressive behaviors in the coming years. The State Department said the ongoing Agreement with Japan will strengthen and sustain the bilateral work to address shared regional and global objectives. 

BRAZIL

The US and Brazil announced new priorities for the US-Brazil Environmental Framework Dialogue to enhance collaboration on urban environmental issues. This Dialogue also will build on a Declaration of Intent expected to be signed this month by Minister Salles and Chief of the US Forest Service Vicki Christiansen to renew and strengthen cooperation on forest, protected area, and fire management. The partnership aims to protect, enhance, and restore forests and biodiversity while improving the prosperity and well-being of indigenous peoples and local communities in the Amazon, including vulnerable populations, through, among other activities, fire prevention and management, aligned with the goals of the One Trillion Trees initiative, sound mining, and water and air resource conservation.   

EUROPE

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The annual US – EU Strategic Dialogue on Humanitarian Affairs took place this week. The United States and the European Union are the two top donors to humanitarian crisis response globally and cooperate closely to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable people affected by emergency situations around the world. The meeting serves as opportunity to explore common approaches to address key global humanitarian emergencies, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on existing and protracted crises, coordination on response to humanitarian situations around the world, and common approaches to resolving operational challenges in crisis response. 

CHINA

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo released a statement this week calling on Hong Kong-based officials to stop dismantling the “promised autonomy and freedoms of Hong Kong through politically motivated arrests.” The State Department designated four additional PRC and Hong Kong officials in connection with implementing the PRC-imposed National Security Law and threatening the peace, security, and autonomy of Hong Kong, pursuant to Executive Order 13936. The statement said the four have been “leaders or officials of entities, including any government entity, that have engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, developing, adopting, or implementing the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (NSL).”

The designation bars these individuals from travelling to the United States along with the blocking of  their assets within the jurisdiction of the United States or in the possession or control of US persons. The US holds key figures accountable for their part in actively eviscerating the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy in an attempt to pressure the regime in Beijing to comply with the West’s international norms on human rights. To date, Beijing has not responded positively to any attempts to secure freedom for the people of Hong Kong. 

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

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