Trump Non-Committal About Signing Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Bills

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2019-11-23

President Donald Trump was non-committal Friday about signing bi-partisan legislation supporting pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

In a telephone call to "Fox and Friends," Trump seemed torn between supporting human rights and gaining a trade deal with China.

Trump said, "Look we have to stand with Hong Kong." However, he added, "But I'm also standing with President Xi (Jinping). He's a friend of mine. He's an incredible guy."

Trump said the world's two largest economies are "in the process of making the largest trade deal in history and if we could do that that would be great."

The U.S. legislation, consisting of two bills, is aimed at insuring that Hong Kong retains enough autonomy to justify favorable U.S. trading terms. It also threatens sanctions for human rights violations.

Source: Voice of America

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