While the world focuses elsewhere, is China tightening its grip on Hong Kong?

TheBlaze Books ^ | 2014-09-05 | Benjamin Weingarten

[fredericbastiat1]

Recently we have been pouring over “Reagan, In His Own Hand: The Writings of Ronald Reagan that Reveal His Revolutionary Vision for America,” a collection of numerous speeches written by Reagan primarily in the years leading up to his 1980 run for the presidency.

One such speech on treaties — and how frequently throughout history they have been broken — is ringing particularly timely, not just in light of the ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations or Russia’s eastward march, but in context of two recent stories out of Hong Kong, where as the New York Times writes, “Pro-democracy advocates…are girding for what some predict will be a tense final showdown with the Chinese government over whether Beijing will permit genuine democracy…in the former British colony.”

In the first story, Michael Auslin of National Review tells us:

[J]ust 17 years after the British pulled down their flag in Hong Kong, Beijing has revealed its true intentions and the worthlessness of its international agreements. Last week, China’s rubberstamp parliament, the National People’s Congress, overturned the core of the 1984 agreement by reneging on its promise that the 2017 election for Hong Kong’s chief executive will be a free and open affair. Instead, Hong Kong voters will be able to choose only from candidates approved by a Beijing-dominated nominating committee, and only two or three will be allowed on the ballot.

[humblegunner]

Why have you excerpted your own material?

[Chainmail]

While the world isn't watching, the Chinese are expanding naval bases in Philippine, Japanese, and Vietnamese waters, intercepting and harassing our recon planes in international waters, and building entirely new classes of ballistic antiship missiles.

Wonder when we'll be ready to start watching?