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COVID-19: Trump announces unprecedented action against China

Trump announces unprecedented action against China

US President, Donald Trump on Friday, launched a blistering attack on China,

announcing a string of unprecedented actions against  the communist
state, that brings the US- China relationship to an all time low.

Trump appeared in the White House Rose Garden on a day when the US
hit 100,000 deaths in the Coronavirus pandemic he has largely blamed on
China, casting Beijing as an existential geopolitical threat as he
announced retaliatory measures towards China

for violation of Hong Kong’s freedoms, destroying American factories,
stealing trade and technology secrets, threatening freedom of navigation
in the Pacific Ocean, and controlling the World Health Organization’s
activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

From Trump’s statements, the US will now see China as a foe in the months heading to the November 2020  Presidential elections.

Trump announces unprecedented action against China

“They’ve ripped off the United States like no one has ever done
before,” Trump said of China,  “raided our factories” and “gutted”
American industry’

Trump called out China for “espionage to steal our industrial secrets, of which there are many,”

He also announced steps to protect American investors and businessmen
from Chinese financial practices while accusing Beijing of “unlawfully
claiming territory in the Pacific Ocean”

Trump, standing up to Beijing, that he has tried to pander to since
becoming president, also blasted Beijing for passing a national security
law that undermines Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Trump says from now henceforth the US will treat Hong Kong the way it
treats the rest of China by stripping Hong Kong of the special policy
measures on extradition, trade, travel and customs Washington had
previously granted it.

The President said the US would also take more action including
barring “certain foreign nationals from China” from entering the US and
sanctioning officials in China and Hong Kong for their direct or
indirect role in “smothering” Hong Kong’s freedoms, while also
suggesting the US will reduce the number of Chinese nationals that come
to the US to study.

Trump’s direct attacks on China has been a long time coming as over the
years Trump has complained about China’s trade policies, China’s use of
Huawei telecommunications to spy on countries, Chinese media, student
visas, clashes and power flexings in the South China Sea, China’s
alleged creation of coronavirus in a Wuhan lab and most recently, new
laws passed by China that erases Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Hong Kong was handed over from the UK to China in 1997 under an
agreement that was meant to preserve Hong Kong’s autonomy in domestic
matters, including the judiciary, and ensure its citizens could vote for
their leaders, but the new laws would basically end all of that.

“This week China unilaterally imposed control over Hong Kong security,” Trump said Friday.

“A plain violation of Beijing’s treaty obligations with the United Kingdom.”

“As a result Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous to
warrant the special treatment that we have afforded the territory” and
his administration would “begin the process of eliminating policy
exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment.”

According to Trump, his new move will impact the “full range” of
agreements the US has with Hong Kong, including their extradition
treaty, preferential customs and travel status, export controls on dual
use technologies and more, Trump said.

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