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Foreign Policy Update

CHINA

State-sponsored repression against all religions continues to intensify in China. In the newly-released 2019 report on International Religious Freedom, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the “Chinese Communist Party is now ordering religious organizations to obey CCP leadership and infuse communist dogma into their teachings and practice of their faith.  The mass detentions of Uighurs in Xinjiang continues.  So does the repression of Tibetans and Buddhists and Falun Gong and Christians.”

Pompeo released a statement earlier in the week calling China’s attempts to take advantage of the US domestic situation to press their political agenda “obscene.” He noted that there is no equivalence between the two forms of government. The United States uses rule of law; China does not.  The US has free speech and embraces peaceful protest, he added, and China does not.  “We defend religious freedom; as I just noted, China continues its decades-long war on faith,” according to Pompeo. Relations between the US and China have grown even more tense since the onset of the COVID-10 virus. It shows no signs of abating and there are indications it may escalate given China’s belligerent behavior.

HONG KONG

It appears likely the United States is going to impose a cost on the decisionmakers who denied this freedom to the people of Hong Kong, accord to Secretary Pompeo.  He pointed out that Hong Kong is no longer a highly autonomous region. “That means that the behavior and the relationships that we have with Hong Kong will look more like the relationships we have with China,” he said. Previously, the preference set that was given to Hong Kong as a result of the Chinese commitment to freedom in Hong Kong and one country and two systems “will begin to look less and less like there are really two systems as a reflection of the fact that there aren’t,” Pompeo added.

In the coming weeks President Trump is expected to propose a range of responses that Washington will implement , so in cooperation with its international partners. The world, Pompeo said, has come to understand that a “commitment from the Chinese Communist Party is no longer something that they can rely upon, and that has real implications for how we ought to respond to what they’re doing in Hong Kong today.” The Secretary indicated that the Administration is very concerned that Hong Kong’s leadership will try to delay or cancel the upcoming September elections if the result appears uncertain or leaning againshe Secret Beijing. If the situation further deteriorates Pompeo said the US is looking at the possibility of welcoming the entrepreneurial people of Hong Kong into the United States.

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IRAN

The continuing threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran remains, according to Pompeo, as it has continued to violate a number of its nuclear commitments that it signed up for under the JCPOA. The US campaign to hold Iran in check is ongoing and Washington is adding pressure on the regime.

The Secretary announced the end of the sanctions waiver covering all remaining JCPOA-originating nuclear projects in Iran – the Arak reactor conversion, the provision of enriched uranium for the Tehran Research Reactor, and the export of Iran’s spent and scrap research reactor fuel following a final, 60-day wind-down period allowing companies and entities involved in these activities to cease their operations. Pompeo said that the United States has “put resources in place to deter Iranian aggression on the ground.”  He pointed to Washington’s diplomatic power in “uniting the world in a number of ways with respect to Iran’s terrorism.” Starting on October 18 the Russians will be able to sell equipment to Iran, and they appear to be preparing to do so. The Chinese also will be able to sell tanks to Iran. Pompeo added that Washington has “a plan that we believe will successfully prevent that from happening… It’s too dangerous to the world to allow Iran, after just what would be now five years of the agreement, to be able to again arm themselves, purchase high-end weapon systems from the Russians and the Iranians, making it even more difficult for us to stop them from building out their nuclear program.   

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.

Illustration: Pixabay