Fluent Essays

This policy paper relates to a practical problem in the international system. You are expected to write a concise 1,000-word policy brief with your analysis and policy recommendations.See the attachment (POLB80 - Policy brief instructions.pdf) for all relevant details.Heres my suggestion on how to approach thinking about this assignment: what do you think is the best course of action (for the topic youve chosen -- and remember, youre defending Canadian interests and aware of Canadian capabilities); then, what IR theory (or sub-theories) best relate to your recommended course of action? And finally, some counter-points: are there some valid ideas in other IR theories? (Include this part in a few sentences in the second part of your brief) china_moves_to_impose_security_laws_on_hong_kong__raising_fears_of_eroding_freedom___the_globe_and_mail.pdf do_no_harm_in_hong_kong___foreign_affairs.pdf five_eyes_allies_urged_to_lessen_dependence_on_china___the_globe_and_mail.pdf opinion__in_canada__the_tide_of_opinion_is_turning_on_china___the_globe_and_mail.pdf polb80___policy_brief_instructions.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom Beijing’s assertion of its law on Hong Kong is almost certain to change the complexion of the Asian financial centre, The Globe’s Nathan VanderKlippe writes NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE BEIJING PUBLISHED MAY 21, 2020 354 COMMENTS ASIA CORRESPONDENT SHARE Voice 1x 00:00 TOP STORIES Police seize trucks, guns and drugs in crackdown on towing industry crime MAY 26 UPDATED https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 1/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail File photo of demonstrators protesting a proposed extradition bill aim their flashlights towards riot police as they are chased through the streets of Hong Kong on August 25, 2019. WILLY KURNIAWAN/REUTERS The Chinese government is preparing to impose new national security legislation on Hong Kong, raising fears of new curbs on the city’s freedoms as Beijing’s state media pledged the complete eradication of what it called a “cancer” of pro-independence sentiment. Although it is not yet clear what the new rules will mandate, Beijing’s assertion of its law on Hong Kong is almost certain to change the complexion of the Asian financial centre, which has enjoyed freedoms of speech and assembly that don’t exist in mainland China. In a strident commentary published Thursday, China’s central Xinhua News Agency cited “turmoil” in Hong Kong, and what it called a collusion with external forces and a pro-independence movement, as grounds for Beijing to act. Opinion: In Canada, the tide of opinion is turning on China Five Eyes allies urged to lessen dependence on China TOP STORIES Police seize trucks, guns and drugs in crackdown on towing industry crime “We must take a zero-tolerance attitude to this cancer on the body of the country and the nation and be determined to eradicate it completely,” MAY 26 UPDATED Xinhua wrote. The handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 “made Hong https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 2/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail Kong people regain the dignity and glory of being Chinese,” Xinhua wrote, arguing that the city’s prosperity and stability depend on eradicating secessionist forces. Hong Kong’s democracy activists have long warned that mainland China is eroding the liberties that have made the city unique. China’s security apparatus routinely imprisons people for demanding the rights they are guaranteed under the country’s own constitution, and the spectre of the city falling under a security law written by Beijing created alarm in Hong Kong. Activists said it amounts to the biggest incursion by China into Hong Kong since the city’s handover from Britain. “It will make Hong Kong like mainland China,” said Emily Lau, a prodemocracy politician in the city. She warned that it threatens to “take away our freedoms, rule of law and personal safety.” TOP STORIES Police seize trucks, guns and drugs in crackdown on towing industry crime MAY 26 UPDATED Prominent barrister Martin Lee arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates Court on May 18 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 3/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail Prominent barrister Martin Lee arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates Court on May 18, 2020 in Hong Kong, China. 15 pro-democracy veterans and supporters were charged on May 18 for taking part in one of the last years banned anti-government protest. ANTHONY KWAN/GETTY IMAGES In Canada, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Franois-Philippe Champagne said Ottawa is “concerned by these reports and we are following the developments closely.” Given the “hundreds of thousands of Canadians living in Hong Kong, we have a vested interest in its stability and prosperity – the foundation of which are Hong Kong’s relative autonomy and basic freedoms,” Adam Austen said in a statement. China under President Xi Jinping has overseen a tightening of the Communist Party’s control over the mainland, and a less forgiving approach to critics both inside and outside mainland borders. “Safeguarding national security serves the fundamental interests of all Chinese, our Hong Kong compatriots included,” said Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the National People’s Congress, who described the planned legislation Thursday. He did not directly reference recent violence in Hong Kong, but said: “This is highly necessary.” TOP STORIES Police seize trucks, guns and drugs in crackdown on towing industry crime MAY 26 UPDATED https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 4/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail PLAY VIDEO 1:29 China says it intends to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, which risks sparking renewed unrest. REUTERS Worry that Beijing is preparing to enforce security by policing speech grew so acute that NordVPN, a provider of software that can circumvent internet censorship, saw a 120-fold increase in inquires from Hong Kong Thursday. Since the handover of Hong Kong to China from Britain, the city has seen regular protests against encroachment from Beijing. Over the past year, violent demonstrations, and a heavy-handed police response, brought bloodshed to the streets, casting aside a tradition of peaceful protest that had held for decades. “What’s clear is that the central government is going to establish a law in Hong Kong,” said Chen Duanhong, a law professor at Peking University. Such a move indicates that Beijing believes it is necessary to act, that it has the authority to do so and “that such a law would be able to solve some problems it has seen, in Hong Kong and in the management of the Hong Kong government.” TOP STORIES Police seize trucks, guns and drugs in crackdown on towing industry crime MAY 26 UPDATED https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 5/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail Zhang Yesui, the spokesperson for the third session of the 13th National Peoples Congress, speaks during a video online press conference in Beijing on May 21, 2020, a day before the opening ceremony of the NPC. LEO RAMIREZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Very few protesters in Hong Kong have openly called for independence. Most have demanded instead that Beijing allow the city more freedom to manage its own affairs, including by electing its chief executive, the city’s top political figure. In recent years, the number of people in Hong Kong who self-identify as Chinese has receded, as the city’s residents assert a stronger “Hongkonger” identity. Still, the likelihood of Beijing acting unilaterally toward Hong Kong had been dismissed even recently by legal experts, who saw it as a risky strategy for China, with potentially catastrophic results. This is in part because Chinese law does not fit well with Hong Kong’s common-law tradition. “The nightmare has finally arrived,” said Johannes Chan, a constitutional TOP STORIES expert who is former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Police seize trucks, guns and drugs in crackdown on towing industry crime Kong. “Human rights protection and all the procedural safeguards attending to criminal prosecution distinguish the system in Hong Kong MAY 26 UPDATED https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 6/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail from that of the mainland,” and if Beijing imposes its own laws, “this distinction is now obliterated.” The Basic Law, the city’s constitutional document, requires Hong Kong to enact “laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People’s Government.” Pan-democratic legislator Lam Cheuk-ting, is taken away by security during a Legislative Councils House Committee meeting in Hong Kong, Monday, May 18, 2020. KIN CHEUNG/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP STORIES “The phrase ‘on its own’ was added to ensure that mainland law shall not Police seize trucks, guns and drugs in crackdown on towing industry crime be directly imposed” on Hong Kong, Prof. Chan said MAY 26 UPDATED A 2003 effort to pass such a law in Hong Kong failed after it provoked a major public outcry. That law, had it passed, would have outlawed https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 7/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail unapproved publication of some official information, allowed police to conduct warrantless searches in treason or subversion cases and provided authorities the power to ban groups on national-security grounds. It defined sedition, in part, as “violent public disorder that would seriously endanger the stability of the People’s Republic of China,” although it included specific protections for some political speech. This time, Beijing intends to act by amending an appendix of the Basic Law that contains Chinese law enforceable in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post reported. Such a move will “destroy, under the disguise of national security, the human-rights protections and protected freedoms that exist in Hong Kong,” said Wu Qiang, a former Tsinghua University scholar who is an expert in Chinese social movements. “What is certain is that this law will definitely bring enormous psychological change to people in Hong Kong – that will be reflected right away. It will possibly push Hong Kong people closer to the state of despair,” he said. “Beijing is always desperate to realize full control.” Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent young protesters, warned on Twitter that “the implication for all foreign organizations & investors is deadly dangerous.” “Hong Kong TOP STORIES as we know it is gone,” observer and analyst Bill Bishop wrote on Twitter. Police seize trucks, guns and drugs in crackdown on towing industry crime MAY 26 UPDATED https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 8/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, right, gestures, as election winner candidate Kelvin Lam greets people to thank for their support, outside South Horizons Station in Hong Kong, Monday, Nov. 25, 2019. VINCENT YU/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The imposition of such a law by Beijing also seems certain to heighten the conflict between China and the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has ratcheted up his anti-China rhetoric as he seeks re-election in November, told reporters at the White House on Thursday that “nobody knows yet” the details of China’s plan. “If it happens, we’ll address that issue very strongly,” Mr. Trump said, without elaborating. Later Thursday, the U.S. State Department warned China against imposing TOP STORIES a new national-security legislation on Hong Kong, saying a high-degree of autonomy and respect human rights are key toindustry preserving Police seize trucks, guns andfor drugs in crackdown on towing crimethe territory’s special status. MAY 26 UPDATED https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 9/10 5/26/2020 China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom - The Globe and Mail “Any effort to impose national-security legislation that does not reflect the will of the people of Hong Kong would be highly destabilizing, and would be met with strong condemnation from the United States and the international community,” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. Also on Thursday, Republican and Democratic senators said they would soon introduce legislation to impose sanctions on Chinese officials if Beijing violates Hong Kong’s independence. Hong Kong enjoys special treatment under U.S. law, which is predicated on it maintaining a high degree of autonomy. The city “is being used by Beijing as a battlefield to provoke the U.S.,” said Eddie Chu, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. With reports from Reuters Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today. © Copyright 2020 The Globe and Mail Inc. All rights reserved. 351 King Street East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON Canada, M5A 0N1 Phillip Crawley, Publisher https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-vows-to-remove-hong-kongs-cancer-of-pro-independence-thought/ 10/10 5/26/2020 Do No Harm in Hong Kong | Foreign Affairs Do No Harm in Hong Kong What the United States Can—and Can’t—Do to Help Preserve the City’s Autonomy By Kurt Tong December 6, 2019 A detained protester in Hong Kong, December 2019 NewSiu Feature Tyrone / Reuters Alert: Web articles are now available in the Foreign Affairs App! Download from your app store to start reading. × n the months after large-scale protests rst broke out in Hong Kong https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2019-12-06/do-no-harm-hong-kong 1/13 I g 5/26/2020 p Do No Harm in Hong Kong | Foreign Affairs last June, U.S. policy circles remained relatively quiet. Yet as g g demonstrations turned violent and rumors of a Beijing-directed crackdown spread, concern in Washington grew. Last week, President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which arrived at his desk with veto-proof backing from both houses of Congress. e legislation gives the U.S. government a stronger mandate to adjust its legal stance toward Hong Kong, as well as o ering renewed sanctions authorities and a clearer expression of where the United States stands on the city’s future. Yet the biggest questions for U.S. policy still lie ahead. At issue today in Hong Kong is not simply when and how the protests end. More consequential is whether Hong Kong’s uniquely autonomous status within China, as de ned by the “one country, two systems” paradigm, can survive the current crisis. e most important focus for U.S. policymakers should be to do what they can to reinforce that paradigm, while avoiding steps that would undermine it. e status quo in Hong Kong, with its high degree of autonomy, extensive personal freedoms, and strong rule of law, generates enormous bene ts not just for the people of Hong Kong but also for the United States and China. Above all else, Washington must remember what it can, and cannot, do to ensure that this status quo continues. Done right, U.S. policy can help keep the Hong Kong dream alive. But there is a real risk that the New Feature Alert: Web articles arematters now available United States could inadvertently make worse. in the Foreign Affairs App! Download from your app store to start reading. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2019-12-06/do-no-harm-hong-kong × 2/13 5/26/2020 Do No Harm in Hong Kong | Foreign Affairs Stay informed In-depth analysis delivered weekly SIGN UP ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS Ever since its handover from the United Kingdom to China in 1997, Hong Kong has enjoyed special status within China. “One country, two systems” is the shorthand used to describe that status—Hong Kong’s mostly separate system of laws and governance and generally Westernized business practices, which persist (and thrive) despite overall Chinese sovereignty. is status, promised in a 1984 treaty between China and the United Kingdom and codi ed in the Basic Law approved by Beijing, has allowed Hong Kong to continue to enjoy freedom of expression and rule of law, despite ying the ag of the People’s Republic of China since the end of British colonial rule. It has also been the central factor in Hong Kong’s commercial and nancial success. Widespread protests started in June in response to the Hong Kong government’s politically tone-deaf proposal to allow for the extradition of fugitives to stand trial in China. e actual proposed change was relatively narrow: it would have applied only to certain serious cases in which individuals wereAlert: suspected breaking speci laws in mainland China New Feature Webofarticles are nowcavailable in the Foreign × before Affairstraveling App! Download to Hong Kong. from your at app the Hong storeKong to start business reading. community and general public so strongly opposed the legislation was a testament to https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2019-12-06/do-no-harm-hong-kong 3/13 and general public so strongly opposed the legislation was a testament to 5/26/2020 Do No Harm in Hong Kong | Foreign Affairs their increasing distrust of the Chinese government and long-held disdain for its unfair judicial system. When the Hong Kong government ignored this opposition, massive peaceful protests broke out. Further mistakes and vacillation by the government helped set o a cycle of increasingly violent demonstrations, heavy-handed police reaction, and deepening political polarization. Initial concerns about judicial independence have since expanded into renewed calls for democratic elections for the city’s chief executive. at the extradition legislation could spark such a reaction indicates how fraught and complicated the situation in Hong Kong has become in recent years. In part, dissatisfaction stems from resentment over extreme economic disparity between rich and poor and also over mainland Chinese “intrusion” into Hong Kong’s culture and society. Real wages in Hong Kong for middle-class people have been at for over a decade, while housing costs have soared. Most young adults live in tiny, una ordable ats and often compete for advancement with highly quali ed job seekers from the mainland. Hongkongers also chafe at mainlanders’ “overtourism” and increasing use of Mandarin rather than the traditional Cantonese. It is important to remember how autonomous Hong Kong remains. Yet such structural resentments have been in amed by Beijing’s increased New Feature Alert: Web articles are now available in the Foreign interference Hong Kong politics decision-making. As the U.S. Affairs App!inDownload from yourand app store to start reading. State Department has documented in its annual report on Hong Kong, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2019-12-06/do-no-harm-hong-kong × 4/13 p 5/26/2020 p g Do No Harm in Hong Kong | Foreign Affairs interference has taken the form of political screening of legislative g, candidates, prosecutorial overreach, and the politicization of education and academic research. Meanwhile, the o cial bodies in Beijing tasked with monitoring and in uencing Hong Kong a airs have grown in size and ambition, and these Hong Kong watchers have created their own selfserving narratives for Beijing’s consumption, including exaggerating “separatist” sentiment in Hong Kong and spinnin ... Purchase answer to see full attachment