Letters to the Editor: China’s lawlessness on Hong Kong demands a strong U.S. response. Too bad we have Trump

To the editor: In 2001, China was admitted to the World Trade Organization, the theory being that the rest of the world could influence China to accept fair trade practices and eventually liberalize its human rights policies. Sadly, this theory has been proved totally wrong. (“Trump must now grapple with how to confront Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong,� May 22)

Instead, China has engaged in intellectual property theft, currency manipulation and unfair competition with state-controlled businesses. The resulting vast economic and military expansion have made China the primary geopolitical rival of the United States.

President Xi Jinping and China are utterly lawless, violating trade laws, the treaty supposedly granting Hong Kong 50 years of autonomy and the territorial integrity of other nations in the South China Sea. Unless the U.S. responds, for example with significant financial sanctions, communist autocracy will continue to advance, and worldwide democracy and freedom will recede.

Unfortunately, with the present administration having distanced us from most of our allies and weakened our international standing, I am quite certain that President Trump will provide all talk but no action on this.

Scott McKenzie, La Cañada Flintridge

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To the editor: Where is the United Kingdom in all of this?

Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997. It was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her government that negotiated and signed the joint declaration resulting in the “one country, two systems� agreement with China.

The U.S. is not a party to the agreement and has no standing to intervene and meddle in other countries’ affairs. Let’s stay out of it and allow Great Britain to express its concerns if it has any.

Andrew Ko, San Marino

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To the editor: How should Trump grapple with China’s power play in Hong Kong?

The same way China grapples with Washington’s crackdown on immigration, lawful and unlawful: Do nothing, and let the other sovereign nation determine its own policies inside its own borders.

John R. Yates, Encino