The sun rises over the US Capitol in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

In light of the turmoil in Washington this week, we would like to share a reflection on the importance of defending democracy from Hudson's President and CEO John Walters.

Hudson Institute promotes American leadership with a clear understanding of the principles, the institutions, and the sacrifices that are necessary for the United States and its allies to remain free and prosperous. 

At a time of growing threats to global peace and security, the enemies of freedom seek to undermine America and erode faith in democracy at home and abroad.  The danger is not new.

In January 1838, Abraham Lincoln spoke of an "ill-omen, amongst us. I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country; the growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious passions, in lieu of the sober judgment of Courts; and the worse than savage mobs, for the executive ministers of justice. This disposition is awfully fearful in any community; and that it now exists in ours, though grating to our feelings to admit, it would be a violation of truth, and an insult to our intelligence, to deny.” 

Lincoln was clear, “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.”  And he went on to speak words important to reread today:

"I know the American People are much attached to their Government;--I know they would suffer much for its sake;--I know they would endure evils long and patiently, before they would ever think of exchanging it for another. Yet, notwithstanding all this, if the laws be continually despised and disregarded, if their rights to be secure in their persons and property, are held by no better tenure than the caprice of a mob, the alienation of their affections from the Government is the natural consequence; and to that, sooner or later, it must come.

Here then, is one point at which danger may be expected.

"The question recurs, 'how shall we fortify against it?' The answer is simple. Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor...

Lincoln called upon American patriotism and ultimately led citizens through the fire of civil war to a “new birth of freedom” — a blessing to America and a critical support for democracy and freedom in the world.  We should recall these truths and work to assure that there will always be men and women who know them, speak them, and defend them.

As the United States addresses its internal challenges, attention must still be paid to the threats facing democracy worldwide, including the alarming acceleration of pro-democracy arrests taking place in Hong Kong under China's National Security Law.

In her new op-ed, Claudia Rosett examines the importance of June 30, 2020, a day that changed the lives of every Hong Kong resident. On this day the National Security Law was passed, and, in a single act, removed the rights and freedoms guaranteed to residents of Hong Kong during the British handover of the colony to China. The law represents the "first full takedown of a thriving and mature free society" by a communist government and a somber reminder of why democracy must be defended.

See highlights from Claudia's must-read op-ed below.

China's Takedown of Hong Kong

Key takeaways from Claudia Rosett's op-ed, "China’s Takedown of Hong Kong Is Part of a Strategy of World Domination"

1. How the National Security Law works:

This law runs to 66 articles, but boils down to Beijing granting itself the power to intervene in Hong Kong in any matter that China’s government deems relevant to national security — a concept that under China’s communist rule means whatever the party overlords want it to mean. The law criminalizes activities such as criticism the authorities deem dangerous, or “collusion” with “foreign elements,” in terms vague enough to put Hong Kongers at risk for what were previously normal discussions. Grave offenders can be sent to mainland China for prosecution and punishment…

Under this law, mainland security forces arrived openly for the first time in Hong Kong this summer, empowered to conduct surveillance, warrantless searches and arrests as they see fit.

2. The law breaks China’s 1984 treaty with Britain:

China signed a binding international treaty with Britain, the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, guaranteeing that from the time of the 1997 handover until at least the year 2047, Hong Kong would be self-governing in domestic affairs, enjoying a “high degree of autonomy” under an arrangement Beijing dubbed “One Country, Two Systems.”

Written and passed in Beijing, imposed without allowing Hong Kong’s people any say, [the National Security] law effectively eliminates the institutional barriers that separated Hong Kong’s relatively free and open system from China’s increasingly totalitarian rule. Under this law, virtually any act of choice in Hong Kong is not a matter of right, but done at the dispensation — or not — of Beijing.

3. China is using this law to legalize global censorship of Hong Kongers:

The law includes provisions criminalizing “offences” committed not only in Hong Kong, but by anyone, anywhere around the globe. According to a December report submitted to Congress by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, “Left unchecked, the law could grant the Chinese government broad power to censor global discourse.”

4. In two years, Hong Kong was brought completely underfoot by China:

Less than two years ago, Hong Kong was one of the great cities of the free world. It was a cosmopolitan home on the China coast to 7.5 million people, enjoying free trade, free speech, a British legacy of rule of law and great pride in belonging to what their own administration dubbed “Asia’s World City.”

What stands out today is not solely China’s bad faith in violating a binding treaty that still had 27 years left on clock — though that should give pause to anyone inclined to believe such worthless declarations by Beijing, as its promise to reduce carbon emissions to zero by the year 2060. The further alarming precedent is the speed, brutality and sweep with which China has reduced the vibrant, open city of Hong Kong to a shrouded enclave of repression, censorship and political prisoners.

5. The United States' efforts to confront China’s authoritarianism in Hong Kong:

The U.S. has led the global response to this nightmare, withdrawing Hong Kong’s special trade status, scrapping extradition arrangements and blacklisting some of Hong Kong’s top officials, including Chief Executive Lam. Most important, the Trump administration has roused the world to the dangers compounding out of China, and the administration has begun steering away from the U.S. policies of open-handed trade and engagement that for so many decades enriched and emboldened China’s Communist Party.

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