Political Quotes

“Madam President, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act is really about promises--making promises and keeping promises. Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party has a long history of making promises but not keeping them. You can ask a rice farmer from Stuttgart. You can ask a software programmer from Fayetteville, a factory worker from Fort Smith, or a Christian missionary from Searcy. In this case, China promised in 1984 that it would uphold the ``one country, two systems'' approach to Hong Kong when it took over in 1997, a promise to preserve the freedoms that have made Hong Kong distinctive--the freedom to practice one's religion as one sees fit, to speak one's mind, and to participate in the political process. But that is just another promise they are on the verge of breaking. Apparently, the ``one country, two systems'' approach can't satisfy Beijing's rapacious appetite. They look at and covet Hong Kong's wealth, and they fear and loathe its freedom, which stands in shining contrast to the Orwellian oppression on the mainland. In fact, they fear that mainland Chinese might look across the bay and start to get ideas. So the Chinese Communist Party has been breaking its promises to Hong Kong and to the world, waging a brutal campaign to absorb Hong Kong into its dystopian, high-tech dictatorship. Hongkongers are bravely resisting in the face of this kind of escalating violence. In recent days, Hong Kong security forces have shot a protestor in the stomach.…”