White House paying close attention to Chinese forces amassed at Hong Kong border

白宮密緊盯集結在香港邊境的共軍

Chinese government continues to blame protests on US


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A senior U.S. official has said the White House is closely monitoring the Chinese forces that have massed at Hong Kong’s border.

The official, speaking anonymously, told reporters that the nature of the congregation of Chinese forces is still unclear, Bloomberg reports. However, the Chinese military on July 24 openly hinted at its willingness to use force to put down the Hong Kong protests at the request of the cit's government.

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo urged China to “do the right thing” regarding the ongoing protests on Monday (July 29). Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) responded on Tuesday by blaming the U.S. for meddling in Hong Kong affairs.

“It’s clear that Mr. Pompeo has put himself in the wrong position and still regards himself as the head of the CIA. He might think that violent activities in Hong Kong are reasonable because after all, this is the creation of the U.S.,” said Hua.

“This is the people of Hong Kong asking their government to listen to them,” Pompeo said to the press while on his way to a regional conference in Bangkok. “It’s always appropriate for every government to listen to their people,” he added.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump praised China President Xi Jinping (習近平) for his “restraint” in dealing with the two months of public unrest. It is unclear what the U.S. is prepared to do in the case of direct Chinese military intervention in Hong Kong.