Beijing’s move on Hong Kong adds fuel to a growing fire.
U. S.-China relations — already tattered by a trade war and strained by the coronavirus crisis — were dealt another blow this week as Beijing took action to tighten its control over Hong Kong. Residents of the semiautonomous territory, which has already seen months of pro-democracy protests, cherish the freedoms that had made it a cosmopolitan center of finance; the possibility of more unrest could further diminish its global position. The move by China also has the U. S. walking a very fine line between upholding democratic values and finding common ground with the world’s second-largest economy.
