Opinion

The US has a role to play in the escalating Hong Kong crisis – as a moderating force

Washington is not the ‘black hand’ Beijing believes it to be. But neither should it wash its hands of the crisis, as Trump has apparently done

However limited its role, the US should be urging restraint on all sides and highlighting the credible repercussions beyond Hong Kong of any crackdown

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David M Lampton is professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a former president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, and author of “Living US-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War”.

Published: 2:00am, 14 Aug 2019Updated: 3:26am, 14 Aug 2019

In the past six weeks, I have been in mainland China, Hong Kong (three times), and Washington. From these trips and recent developments, I have concluded that Hong Kong is a huge tragedy in the making. Proactive and positive moves by all parties to this rapidly deteriorating situation are required.

Though Washington is not a principal party in these developments, it should be a constructive force rather than irrelevant or counterproductive.

The elements of the current crisis are many. In Hong Kong, there is a leaderless movement on the ground. There are rising levels of political and socio-economic frustration among many Hong Kong citizens stemming from mobility and economic considerations, as well as perceptions of political retrogression in the special administrative region.

There is a tone-deaf, neutered local leadership that is prideful and unwilling to admit that it made a huge strategic misstep pushing forward with an ill-conceived extradition bill. And there are local tycoons who curry favour with Beijing rather than protecting the rule of law that is in their own long-term interests.