This article originally appeared on Fox News on July 1, 2019.
While talks Saturday between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Japan focused on resolving trade disputes, there is another major issue dividing our two countries: the fight for freedom by the people of Hong Kong.
We don’t know what, if anything, Trump and Xi said about Hong Kong. But the fate of the former British colony and the rights of its citizens are important and should be of concern to Americans and free people everywhere.
Protesters claim nearly 2 million people have joined their ranks to stage demonstrations and marches against a controversial extradition bill, while Hong Kong police estimated peak turnout of protesters was 338,000.
The protests have being going on for weeks, as the people of Hong Kong have tried desperately to stop their semi-autonomous democratic government from succumbing to Beijing’s pressure and passing deeply unpopular extradition legislation.
The extradition bill would nullify the civil liberties and criminal justice protections that Hong Kongers enjoy. It could lead to the end of Hong Kong’s autonomy from mainland China, which is ruled by the heavy hand of the Communist Party.
In addition to demonstrating outside the Hong Kong consulates of all the G20 powers, the anti-extradition protesters were on the ground in Osaka Japan during the summit, making the issue of Hong Kong’s fate impossible to ignore.
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