U.S. Department of State
The Restoration of Deterrence: The Iranian Example
SPEECH
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
THE HOOVER INSTITUTION AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY
JANUARY 13, 2020
HONG KONG EXCERPTS
…
QUESTION: Hi, I’m Bryce Tuttle. I’m a political science major. Sorry. So you started your remarks talking about supporting the protesters who are fighting for hopefully democracy in Iran. What is your administration doing to fight for the people who are also fighting for democracy in Hong Kong?
SECERTARY POMPEO: Yeah. So you needn’t look no further than the President’s remarks at the United Nations, the remarks that I’ve made repeatedly and other senior American officials as well. There’s a much longer conversation to be had about China, but with respect to Hong Kong in particular, our policy has been simply this: The Chinese Government made a commitment to Hong Kong. That commitment still exists. It sits at the UN as well, so it’s a commitment they made not to the United States or, frankly, even just to the people of Hong Kong. It’s a commitment that they made to the people of the world to honor this central understanding that there would be increased autonomy for the people of Hong Kong, and we have done our best to draw a set of boundaries for what we think would be acceptable.
I think the President talked about this at some length when the protests first broke out and there were hints of violence at the front end of those protests. I think we’ve been unequivocal about our support that says the Chinese Government made a commitment that there would be higher level of autonomy there, and it’s our expectation the Chinese Communist Party will live up to that.
…
