Donald Trump has warned China that carrying out a Tiananmen Square-style crackdown on Hong Kong pro-democracy protests would harm trade talks between the two countries, in comments that followed a huge, nonviolent rally on Sunday.
On Sunday, rally organizers said some 1.7 million people turned out for a peaceful protest under a sea of umbrellas in a show of continued support for a long-running protest movement seeking democratic reforms that has been plagued in recent weeks by escalating violence on the part of both protesters and police.
As protests intensified, so had rumblings from the mainland warning of a possible intervention in the semi-autonomous city, with Trump cautioning yesterday that any violent effort by China to quell the unprecedented protests would damage trade negotiations.
“I think it’d be very hard to deal if they do violence, I mean, if it’s another Tiananmen Square,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey. “I think it’s a very hard thing to do if there’s violence.”
Trump’s comments came as Washington and Beijing look to revive pivotal high-level talks aimed at ending their trade war.
The trade dispute between the US and China has been blamed for setting world financial markets on edge amid signs of a possible global economic slowdown.
Phone calls between the deputies from the two sides are planned for the next 10 days and, if those are successful, negotiations between more senior officials could resume, Trump’s chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow said on Sunday.
The demonstrations in Hong Kong have increasingly tipped into violence, with protesters paralyzing the city’s airport last week and tarnishing a campaign that took pride in its peaceful intent.
The Communist Party, meanwhile, has sharpened its tone towards the dissidents, decrying the “terrorist-like” actions of a violent minority.
China deployed tanks to end student-led protests in the bloody 1989 crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, resulting in an estimated death toll between several hundred to over a thousand.
If such a situation was repeated in Hong Kong, “I think there’d be… tremendous political sentiment not to do something,” Trump said, referring to the trade negotiations with China.
Trump stopped short of endorsing the protesters, saying, “I’d love to see it worked out in a humane fashion,” and calling on Xi to negotiate with the dissidents.
Last week, China’s state-run daily the Global Times said there “won’t be a repeat” of Tiananmen Square in a rare reference to the crackdown.
“China is much stronger and more mature, and its ability to manage complex situations has been greatly enhanced,” the newspaper wrote in an editorial.
Analysts say any intervention in Hong Kong by Chinese security forces would be a disaster for China’s reputation and economy.
The political turmoil was sparked by widespread opposition to a plan to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland, but has since morphed into a broader movement for democratic reforms.
Sunday’s march, billed as a return to the peaceful origins of the leaderless protest movement, was one of the largest rallies since the protests began, according to organizers the Civil Human Rights Front.
