Friday, July 07, 2017

One Country, One System, One Final Warning

China is increasingly ignoring the deal they signed with Britain to allow Hong Kong substantial autonomy in 50-year transitional period to gain British cooperation in turning over their colony to China in 1997.

As China cracks down on those who dare to believe they have rights in Hong Kong prior to China's official full takeover in 2047, China declares it doesn't care about the stinking rules:

A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Beijing said “the arrangements during the transitional period . . . are now history and of no practical significance. . . . The British side has no sovereignty, no power to rule and supervise Hong Kong.”

That was then. Repression is now. And Britain is far smaller and far away.

Heck, Russia took Crimea and invaded the Donbas with not too much discomfort from the international community after agreeing in the Budapest Memorandum that Ukraine is a free state with secure borders. Why shouldn't China figure they can do what they want?

Taiwan should take note. And arm up, train, and remain vigilant.

Or do the Taiwanese think their system is somehow special to China?