U.S. Department of State
Secretary Michael R. Pompeo at a Press Availability
REMARKS TO THE PRESS
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
PRESS BRIEFING ROOM
WASHINGTON, DC
JULY 15, 2020
HONG KONG EXCERPTS
SECRETARY POMPEO:
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Yesterday President Trump signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and announced a series of actions through a presidential executive order.
As he said in May, if China treats Hong Kong as one country and a single system, so must we.
General Secretary Xi Jinping made a choice to violate the Chinese Communist Party’s promises to Hong Kong in – that were made in a UN-registered treaty. He didn’t have to do that; he made that choice.
We have to deal with China as it is, not as we wish it to be.
Other nations are arriving at the same conclusion. Australia and Canada have suspended their extradition treaties with the territory.
I leave on Monday for a quick trip to the United Kingdom and to Denmark, and I’m sure that the Chinese Communist Party and its threat to free peoples around the world will be high on top of that agenda.
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