Pompeo: China measure a ‘death knell’ for Hong Kong autonomy

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press briefing at the State Department on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Washington. (Nicholas Kamm/Pool Photo via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday condemned China’s effort to take over national security legislation in Hong Kong, calling it “a death knell for the high degree of autonomy” that Beijing had promised the territory.

Pompeo called for Beiing to reconsider the move and warned of an unspecified U.S. response if it proceeds. Meanwhile, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said China risked a major flight of capital from Hong Kong that would end the territory’s status as the financial hub of Asia. Shortly afterward, the Commerce Department announced new restrictions on sensitive exports to China.

The contentious measure, submitted Friday on the opening day of China’s national legislative session, is strongly opposed by pro-democracy lawmakers in semi-autonomous Hong Kong.

Pompeo called the proposal an effort to “unilaterally and arbitrarily impose national security legislation on Hong Kong.”

“Hong Kong has flourished as a bastion of liberty. The United States strongly urges Beijing to reconsider its disastrous proposal, abide by its international obligations, and respect Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, democratic institutions, and civil liberties, which are key to preserving its special status under U.S. law,” Pompeo said in a statement.

He said the decision to ignore the will of the people of Hong Kong would be a “death knell for the high degree of autonomy Beijing promised for Hong Kong” under a decades-old agreement known as the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The U.S. has limited leverage with China over Hong Kong but it could end preferred economic privileges that Hong Kong currently enjoys if the Trump administration determines that the declaration, which was supposed to give the territory 50 years of special status after it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, has been violated.

The proposed bill is aimed at forbidding secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference and terrorism. It comes after months of pro-democracy demonstrations last year that at times descended into violence between police and protesters.

Speaking in an interview with the Fox Business Network on Friday, Hassett suggested the damage that would come from China’s proposal would be mostly self-inflicted.

“They’re going to see a lot of economic harm from what they’re doing,” he said, adding that businesses would not want to invest or keep money “in a place where they’re basically sneering at the rule of law.”

“And so, I would expect that they’re going to have serious capital flight problems,” Hassett said. “And Hong Kong, if they follow through this, will no longer be the financial center of Asia, and they themselves will bear very, very heavy costs.”

Later Friday the Commerce Department struck yet another blow to Chinese industry, announcing plans to bar the export of U.S. technology without a license to 33 companies and government institutions including major research labs.

It accused two dozen of the targeted entities of threatening U.S. national security because they could help China develop weapons. They include China’s top cybersecurity company, Qihoo 360, the robotics and artificial intelligence firm Cloudminds Inc., and various research isntitutes involved in laser and other advanced technology.

The other targets, named in a separate news release, included the Institute of Forensic Science at China’s public security ministry and companies that make facial recognition products. Commerce accused them of complicity in human rights abuses targeting Uighurs and other ethnic minorities.

The restrictions compound previous sanctions the Trump administration imposed on U.S. technology sales to Chinese companies involved in supercomputer development, facial recognition and other areas the White House deemed a threat to national security. That includes the technology giant Huawei.

A week ago, Commerce issued a new rule designed to bar foreign semiconductor makers from making chips for Huawei that it has designed.

China contends Washington is using national security as an excuse to try to crush its rise as a global competitor in the tech sector.

Tech expert Paul Triolo of the Eurasia Group political risk research firm said it appeared from the list of new targets that the Commerce Department was applying a rather sweeping definition of military end-use.

“It’s ratcheting up the pressure,” Triolo said of the newest sanctions. “I keep thinking, ’What’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back here” and provokes retaliation from Beijing against U.S. companies that do business in China.

China has threatened countermeasures against U.S. businesses — many of which have major manufactoring operations in its territories— but so far has held off.

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Associated Press writer Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report,

Trump considers panel to review complaints of anticonservative bias on social media

President Trump is considering establishing a panel to review complaints of anticonservative bias on social media, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would likely draw pushback from technology companies and others.
The plans are still under discussion but could include the establishment of a White House-created commission that would examine allegations of online bias and censorship, these people said. The administration could also encourage similar reviews by federal regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Election Commission, they said.
“Left-wing bias in the tech world is a concern that definitely needs to be addressed from our vantage point, and at least exposed [so] that Americans have clear eyes about what we’re dealing with,” a White House official said.

“Left-wing bias in the tech world is a concern that definitely needs to be addressed from our vantage point, and at least exposed [so] that Americans have clear eyes about what we’re dealing with.”
— White House official

Mr. Trump has long expressed that viewpoint, and in a recent Twitter post indicated that a plan to address complaints of bias is in the works.
Facebook Inc., which also owns Instagram, defended its practices when asked for a response to the nascent proposal.
“People on both sides of the aisle disagree with some of the positions we’ve taken, but we remain committed to seeking outside perspectives and communicating clearly about why we make the decisions we do,” the company said.

President Trump has long expressed concerns about left-wing bias in the technology sector.

Twitter Inc. said: “We enforce the Twitter Rules impartially for all users, regardless of their background or political affiliation. We are constantly working to improve our systems and will continue to be transparent and in regular communication with elected officials in regard to our efforts.”
A spokeswoman for Alphabet Inc.’s Google said the company builds its products “with extraordinary care and safeguards to be a trustworthy source of information for everyone, without any regard for political viewpoint.”

Virginia Gov. Northam criticized after not wearing mask or social distancing on beach

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam faced criticism on social media after appearing in Virginia Beach Saturday without a face mask and not practicing social distancing measures around members of the public.
Northam reportedly visited the beach with Mayor Bobby Dye on the second day of the beach’s reopening, according to local news outlet 13News Now. Virginia Beach's reopening is considered a test to see if people can safely follow social distancing rules before other beaches in Virginia reopen.
But Northam, who previously served as an Army doctor, came under fire when images of him surfaced on social media not wearing a face mask and apparently in close contact with other community members.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reminded the public this week that the coronavirus mainly spreads person-to-person when in close proximity, while it also revealed that surface contamination is far less likely than previously thought.
According to the state-mandated rules, people are allowed to be outside without a mask when sunbathing, swimming and fishing as long as they remain distant from other parties.
The governor’s office told NBC in a statement: “The governor has repeatedly encouraged wearing face coverings inside or when social distancing is impossible. He was outside today and not expecting to be within 6 feet of anyone.”
The governor is expected to announce new mask protocols on Tuesday, according to an NBC source in the governor’s office.
All inside businesses will have new face-covering requirements as the state slowly returns to business as usual.
The state initiated Phase One of its reopening plan on May 15, but northern Virginia was allowed to wait until midnight May 28 to start reopening, to give local businesses more time to meet the new health and safety standards.
Phase One of the plan still bans social gatherings of 10 people or more, and the recommended social distancing guideline of six feet or more is still in place.
Northam could not be immediately reached by Fox News for comment on his violation of the state’s social distancing regulations at the beach.

Beto O’Rourke mocks Texas governor’s reopening message – then hears back from Crenshaw, Cruz

Democrat Beto O’Rourke Tried to get the upper hand late Friday, mocking the gradual reopening of the Texas economy from coronavirus shutdowns as “Dangerous, dumb and weak.”
But at least two Texas Republicans weren’t having it.
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz each fired back at O’Rourke, the former congressman from El Paso who failed to unseat Cruz in 2018 and then ran an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
O’Rourke’s Twitter post was a reaction to a tweet by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who touted the Lone Star State’s reopening plan as “Safe, Smart, and Strong.”
“Dangerous, dumb and weak,” O’Rourke wrote in retweeting Abbott’s message.
“Is this the new Dem slogan?” Cruz snapped back.
Crenshaw derided O’Rourke’s post as “a condescending reaction.”
“The guy who wanted to be Texas’s Senator truly believes Texans can’t make decisions for themselves and that they are ‘dumb and weak’ for living their lives and trying to feed their families,” Crenshaw wrote.
“And yes, he’s talking to all Texans, not just our governor,” Crenshaw added. “Governor Abbott can’t force anyone to go back to work. Texans are choosing to do that, despite what people like Beto scream from their ivory towers.”
In a separate tweet, O’Rourke accused Crenshaw of “getting rich selling his own book to the GOP (and being Trump’s most reliable enabler in the House).”
O’Rourke then asked his Twitter followers to donate to Crenshaw’s election opponent, Democrat Sima Ladjevardian, a Houston attorney.

“Millionaires fundraising for millionaires,” Crenshaw responded. “All while telling middle-class Texans they’re ‘dumb and weak’ for wanting to get back to work.”

Crenshaw, who served in Afghanistan as a Navy SEAL, then invited his Twitter followers to donate to his campaign.
In more commentary on the Texas reopening plan, O’Rourke retweeted a Washington Post story that said Texas recently reported new single-day highs in both coronavirus infections and deaths.
“Despite what Trump & co. (Abbott & Patrick) say, stay home if you can & wear a mask if you have to go out. It will save lives,” O’Rourke wrote.”
Last week Gov. Abbott outlined Phase II of the Texas reopening plan. It permits child care centers, massage and personal care spas and youth clubs to reopen May 18, bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls and other entertainment events to resume May 22 – with restaurants at 50 percent of capacity – and sets a May 31 reopening date for youth camps and sporting events.
As of early Sunday, Texas – the nation’s No. 2 most populous state, with about 29 million residents – ranked No. 15 with about 1,400 coronavirus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

San Francisco Cartoons

San Francisco sanctions once-shunned homeless encampments

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco is joining other U.S. cities in authorizing homeless tent encampments in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a move officials have long resisted but are now reluctantly embracing to safeguard homeless people.

About 80 tents are now neatly spaced out on a wide street near San Francisco City Hall as part of a “safe sleeping village” opened last week. The area between the city’s central library and its Asian Art Museum is fenced off to outsiders, monitored around the clock and provides meals, showers, clean water and trash pickup.

In announcing the encampment, and a second one to open in the famed Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, San Francisco’s mayor acknowledged that she didn’t want to approve tents, but having unregulated tents mushroom on sidewalks was neither safe nor fair.

“So while in normal times I would say that we should focus on bringing people inside and not sanctioning tent encampments, we frankly do not have many other options right now,” she said in a tweet last week.

Nicholas Woodward, 37, is camping at the safe sleeping site, but he said he preferred sleeping in his tent before the city stepped in; he finds the fencing belittling and the rules too controlling. His friend, Nathan Rice, 32, said he’d much rather have a hotel room than a tent on a sidewalk, even if the city is providing clean water and food.

“I hear it on the news, hear it from people here that they’re going to be getting us hotel rooms,” he said. “That’s what we want, you know, to be safe inside.”

San Francisco has moved 1,300 homeless people into hotel rooms and RVs as part of a statewide program to shelter vulnerable people but the mayor has been criticized for moving too slowly. She has said she is not inclined to move all the city’s estimated 8,000 homeless into hotels, despite complaints from advocates who say overcrowded tents are a public health disaster.

San Francisco is just the latest city to authorize encampments as shelters across the country move to thin bed counts so homeless people, who are particularly susceptible to the virus due to poor health, have more room to keep apart.

Santa Rosa in Sonoma County welcomed people this week to its first managed encampment with roughly 70 blue tents. Portland, Oregon, has three homeless camps with city-provided sleeping bags and tents, and Maricopa County opened two parking lots to homeless campers in Phoenix.

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San Francisco officials have historically frowned upon mini tent cities and routinely rounded up tents on city streets. But with an estimated 150,000 homeless people in California, most of them living out in the open, it’s impossible to stamp out the highly visible tents along highways and on crowded urban sidewalks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that officials not disturb tent encampments during the coronavirus pandemic unless people are given individual hotel rooms, as homeless advocates want to see. Those advocates say providing a safe space where people can get meals, use a toilet and avoid harassing passers-by is a reasonable option given the times.

“The best, best option would be housing. The second-best option would be hotel rooms, but if you can’t do that and we’re going to have so many people outside then I think it makes sense ... to make those outside as safe as can be,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at the University of California, San Francisco.

But Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the federal government is providing an astonishing amount of money to battle the pandemic and she hopes cities and counties use it to put people into empty hotels, motels and other unused places.

“It’s almost like we’re giving ourselves permission that it’s OK that people will sleep outside, and once we’ve given ourselves that permission, it’s very difficult to get the initiative together to do otherwise,” she said.

Still, government-sanctioned tent camps may be here to stay, at least until a coronavirus vaccine is distributed.

At the urging of San Francisco Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, the city’s parks and real estate departments are compiling an inventory of open spaces that might be suitable for tent camps. She said sidewalk space is a coveted commodity for retailers, given coronavirus restrictions, and the city’s strategy of adding more shelter beds doesn’t make sense with a contagious virus.

”It is just a new world that we’re living in,” she said, “and it’s going to have to be our new normal.”

Trump declares churches ‘essential,’ calls on them to reopen

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has labeled churches and other houses of worship as “essential” and called on governors nationwide to let them reopen this weekend even though some areas remain under coronavirus lockdown.

The president threatened Friday to “override” governors who defy him, but it was unclear what authority he has to do so.

“Governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now — for this weekend,” Trump said at a hastily arranged press conference at the White House. Asked what authority Trump might have to supersede governors, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she wouldn’t answer a theoretical question.

Trump has been pushing for the country to reopen as he tries to reverse an economic free fall playing out months before he faces reelection. White evangelical Christians have been among the president’s most loyal supporters, and the White House has been careful to attend to their concerns throughout the crisis.

Following Trump’s announcement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for communities of faith on how to safely reopen, including recommendations to limit the size of gatherings and consider holding services outdoors or in large, well-ventilated areas.

Public health agencies have generally advised people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and encouraged Americans to remain 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from others when possible. Some parts of the country remain under some version of remain-at-home orders.

In-person religious services have been vectors for transmission of the virus. A person who attended a Mother’s Day service at a church in Northern California that defied the governor’s closure orders later tested positive, exposing more than 180 churchgoers. And a choir practice at a church in Washington state was labeled by the CDC as an early “superspreading” event.

But Trump on Friday stressed the importance of churches in many communities and said he was “identifying houses of worship — churches, synagogues and mosques — as essential places that provide essential services.”

“Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential” but not churches, he said. “It’s not right. So I’m correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential.”

“These are places that hold our society together and keep our people united,” he added.

Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said faith leaders should be in touch with local health departments and can take steps to mitigate risks, including making sure those who are at high risk of severe complications remain protected.

“There’s a way for us to work together to have social distancing and safety for people so we decrease the amount of exposure that anyone would have to an asymptomatic,” she said.

A person familiar with the White House’s thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations said Trump had called the news conference, which had not been on his public schedule, because he wanted to be the face of church reopenings, knowing how well it would play with his political base.

Churches around the country have filed legal challenges opposing virus closures. In Minnesota, after Democratic Gov. Tim Walz this week declined to lift restrictions on churches, Roman Catholic and some Lutheran leaders said they would defy his ban and resume worship services. They called the restrictions unconstitutional and unfair since restaurants, malls and bars were allowed limited reopening.

Some hailed the president’s move, including Kelly Shackelford, president of the conservative First Liberty Institute.

“The discrimination that has been occurring against churches and houses of worship has been shocking,” he said in a statement. “Americans are going to malls and restaurants. They need to be able to go to their houses of worship.”

But Rabbi Jack Moline, president of Interfaith Alliance, said it was “completely irresponsible” for Trump to call for a mass reopening of houses of worship.

“Faith is essential and community is necessary; however, neither requires endangering the people who seek to participate in them,” he said. “The virus does not discriminate between types of gatherings, and neither should the president.”

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, made clear that churches and other houses of worship will not resume in-person services in her state until at least next weekend and said she was skeptical Trump had the authority to impose such a requirement.

“It’s reckless to force them to reopen this weekend. They’re not ready,” she said. “We’ve got a good plan. I’m going to stick with it.”

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, said he would review the federal guidance, while maintaining a decision rests with him.

“Obviously we’d love to get to the point where we can get those open, but we’ll look at the guidance documents and try to make some decisions rather quickly, depending on what it might say,” he said. “It’s the governor’s decision, of course.”

The CDC more than a month ago sent the Trump administration documents the agency had drafted outlining specific steps various kinds of organizations, including houses of worship, could follow as they worked to reopen safely. But the White House dragged its feet, concerned that the recommendations were too specific and could give the impression the administration was interfering in church operations.

The guidance posted Friday contains most of the same advice as the draft guidance. It calls for the use of face coverings and recommends keeping worshippers 6 feet from one another and cutting down on singing, which can spread aerosolized drops that carry the virus.

But there are some differences.

The draft guidance discussed reopening in steps. A first phase would have limited gatherings to video streaming and drive-in services. Later phases allow in-person gatherings of limited size and only when social distancing precautions could be followed. The new guidance has no discussion of such phases.

Another difference: The draft guidance said everyone who attends a service should wear a face covering, while the new guidance says masks should be used when social distancing cannot be maintained.

___

Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe and Jonathan Lemire in New York, Philip Marcelo in Boston and Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report.

Trump rips Jeff Sessions, backs his Senate-runoff opponent: ‘He let our Country down’

If former Attorney General Jeff Sessions – now running to regain a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama -- was hoping to reconcile with President Trump and gain his endorsement, that hope seemed to evaporate Friday night.
The president once again backed Sessions’ opponent, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, in the Alabama GOP Senate primary runoff scheduled for July 14.
“3 years ago, after Jeff Sessions recused himself, the Fraudulent Mueller Scam began,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Alabama, do not trust Jeff Sessions. He let our Country down. That’s why I endorsed Coach Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville), the true supporter of our #MAGA agenda!”
The president’s tweet included a link to Tuberville’s campaign-donation site, and retweeted a Tuberville post from last Sunday, promoting his campaign.
Trump previously endorsed Tuberville in March, after Tuberville garnered the most votes in the state’s GOP Senate primary, AL.com reported. But because Tuberville did not attract support from an outright majority, he will face Sessions – the No. 2 finisher in March – in the July runoff.
The runoff was initially scheduled for March 31 but was rescheduled to July because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Back in March, Sessions brushed off Trump’s decision to back his opponent.
“Of course, President Trump can endorse anyone he chooses for the U.S. Senate election in Alabama," Sessions tweeted at the time. "But the Constitution expressly empowers the people of Alabama, and only them, to select their Senator. I intend to take my case directly to the people of Alabama.”

President Trump's relationship with Jeff Sessions soured after Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation.

Later Friday, Sessions responded on Twitter to Trump's latest message.
"Look, I know your anger, but recusal was required by law," Sessions wrote. "I did my duty & you're damn fortunate I did. It protected the rule of law & resulted in your exoneration. Your personal feelings don't dictate who Alabama picks as their senator, the people of Alabama do."
In a separate message, Sessions also slammed Tuberville.
"Tuberville's a coward who is rightly too afraid to debate me," Sessions wrote. "He says you're wrong on China & trade. He wants to bring in even more foreign workers to take American jobs. That's not your agenda and it's not mine or Alabama's. I know Alabama. Tuberville doesn't."
Sessions, 73, represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate from 1997 to 2017 but resigned when Trump appointed him U.S. attorney general. Sessions had been one of the first high-profile Republicans to endorse Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
But Sessions resigned as attorney general in November 2018. His relationship with Trump soured after Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, paving the way for the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead a probe that tormented Trump for two years.
Sessions was ultimately succeeded by William Barr, who became attorney general in February 2019. Matthew Whitaker led the Justice Department on an interim basis between Sessions’ departure and Barr taking office.
The winner of the Sessions-Tuberville runoff will face Democratic incumbent Sen. Doug Jones.