Pompeo: The Chinese have frankly been very helpful on North Korea. So they have done more to enforce the UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea than ever at any time in history.
Q. What would be the U.S. response if the Chinese were to send military into Hong Kong --
to put down the protests there?
POMPEO: Yeah, so I never answer hypotheticals about what we will do or won’t do. So well played. (Laughter.)
I hear that as, "We'll do nothing."
If that's the case, we should say so. Because the protesters will die when the PLA moves in.
What he could have said is, "We and the world would be outrage. We would freeze the assets of anyone involved, as would the alliance of free countries we lead."
"The PLA should note that we're already preparing the legislation." Which is true--that's why HK protesters were waving the US flag. hongkongfp.com/2019/08/07/app…
Perhaps he's saying that in private. And perhaps it's true that China is playing some kind of useful role in restraining North Korea, which ties our hands.
But if we're going to do nothing but perhaps freeze a few assets, we should clearly say so.
If we're relying on China to keep us safe from North Korea, we can't aggravate them. If we urge the protesters to be prudent and go home, fewer of them will be senselessly slaughtered.
We concluded, in 1956, that we should have "advised Hungarian listeners to be cautious and avoid sacrificing themselves in foolish gestures of resistance." nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB7…
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