His Excellency President Trump:
You are confronted with many important matters every day and your time is too valuable to read trivial letters. This letter concerning the Hong Kong HR and Democracy Act (S. 1838) however is important to American citizens and to you. I voted for you in 2016 and I believed that you were sincere saying you will make America strong again. The HK HR&D bill both Congress and Senate passed may have originated with a good intention, but the bill does not represent the real truth about Hong Kong’s protests. Signing it into law would leave the U.S., our legislature and you, the 45th President, a terrible legacy. I hope my explanations below will convince you of that so you will maintain your own stand on the Hong Kong issue.
Hong Kong was and still is a free port. Britain’s colonial rule of HK was beneficial to U.K. but never was to promote democracy. When the 100 years ‘forced lease of HK’ was up and China became stronger on her own feet, Britain reluctantly returned HK to China in 1997. But Britain did not really return HK to China, she sold most of HK’s land to a few tycoons (four families) before departure and initiated a 'HK democracy' for China to accept. As a successful property developer, you can appreciate if four families own 90-95% of HK’s land how powerful they could be. China had to agree to a 50 year ‘no touch’ condition to get HK back in the name of sovereignty. HK remained as a Free Port and continued in prosperity but mostly for the tycoons who control the financial market, industries, media, trades and real estates, leaving the six million plus HK ordinary citizens living in ‘smallest apartments’ compared to those in most world’s metropolitan. This is not just a wealth gap problem, scientists have proven that if one put rats, monkeys, ...in an overcrowded space for long time they would go insane and become violent. This may explain why kids 13 and 14-year old became violent on the streets.
HK’s recent demonstration originated from protesting over an amendment of an extradition law HK has with most countries and territories except Mainland China and Taiwan. When a HK young man killed his fiancee in Taiwan escaped back to HK avoiding criminal justice, it motivated HK government to propose an amendment to include Taiwan and Mainland in its extradition law. Why would innocent young people protest against this extradition bill and eventually evolve into a six-month long movement with dwindling mass but increasing violence? The HK criminals and spies certainly do not want the extra extradition law so they instigated the protest and broadened the issues to political and economic arena to lure more people to vent their grievances. However, the sustaining forces supporting the protests turning to riots are the wealthy tycoons, their elite employees and their foreign friends. Their support is real and substantial in terms of material supply (helmets, weapons, food, and even stipends), media (including newspaper and TV Ads) and foreign connection and sympathizers (through lobbyists and activists). HK newspaper Apple Daily owner Li Zai Yin can come and go from HK freely even able to get an audience with your VP Mr. Pence for HK matter actually indicates to us that HK is not lack of freedom.
HK People has more freedom than any law-abiding citizens in the world as shown by their lengthy and violent protests nearly unpunished. HK has a great healthcare system with government going out of their way to support expensive drugs to HK citizens (for example, paying $750,000/yr Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy patient). HK citizens have improving democracy in past twenty years than they ever had (example, HK legislature denied CPC’s wish to prescreen candidates running for the top HK executive position). What HK people really need is improved living condition and business opportunities but the tycoons have cast a political goal for them - HK (really the tycoons) wants the suffrage right. Why? The tycoons through suffrage could control the government all the way to the top. (Currently, they can only control a few legislators. They would like to establish that full control before the 50 years ‘no touch’ promise the CPC government made expires. I am not surprised that the ‘HK Democracy’ bills passed in our legislature have HK lobbyists hands pushing them. All these facts and the HK riots as you recognized early on will eventually be known to the world and become recorded history. The HK HR&D Bill would become a laughable joke if the executive branch would ever use it.
The final outcome and consequence of HK’s protest is most likely to be resolved with government negotiating and compromising with the protesters but with assurance that the people’s welfare not the tycoons’ benefits are protected. At this point, there is no real leader of the rioters can be identified. Why? They are hiding behind not willing to be exposed who they really are, who they work for and whose interest they really represent. So one outcome will be that all the violent rioters are eventually put behind bars according to HK’s local laws and no one is coming forward or qualified to negotiate the political demands. The HK Government will most likely focus on policies to improve HK’s housing problem. Although the HK tycoons are richer than most small countries but their assets are too large in HK to be abandoned or to be risked away. The final outcome for them is to either move most of their liquid asset away from HK (as some have already done) or hope that the HK legislature system will not tax their huge land and property holdings to an unbearable extent.
HK has got a social problem but freedom, human rights and democracy are not lacking. Signing S. 1383 into law can only cast the U.S. in a bad light and invite other developing countries (many envy HK) to view us as hypocrites. Mr. Honorable President, please take your own stand!
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