Name: America’s enemies can scent Biden’s weakness
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America’s enemies can scent Biden’s weakness

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It is surely no coincidence that, at a time when American leadership appears paralysed by disputes over the presidential election result, China’s communist rulers have chosen to launch yet another assault on Hong Kong’s democratic freedoms.Having effectively crushed the rights of pro-democracy protesters to stage demonstrations over Beijing’s draconian security laws, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has now passed a resolution allowing Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing rulers to dismiss any politician deemed to be a threat to national security, a move that has effectively extinguished the flame of democracy in the territory.Within hours of Beijing passing the resolution, the city’s government dismissed four prominent members of the legislative council, prompting the remaining 15 pro-democracy legislators to resign in protest. Officials in Beijing responded by declaring that “the political rule that Hong Kong must be governed by patriots shall be firmly guarded”.Had Beijing embarked on such a transparent attempt to crush the last surviving remnants of democratic rule in the territory a few weeks ago, it would have been met with a robust response from the Trump administration which, to Britain’s shame, has become the most active defender of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has, it is true, of its legally binding international commitments to the territory. Yet, with the Johnson government preoccupied with the Brexit negotiations and coronavirus, there is little prospect of London taking any practical steps in support of Hong Kong’s beleaguered pro-democracy protesters.The Trump administration, by contrast, has in recent months imposed a series of measures against China and Hong Kong over the CCP’s blatant disregard for the one country, two systems agreement Britain reached with Beijing in the run up to the 1997 handover. Sanctions have been imposed against key officials, including chief executive Carrie Lam and the city’s current and former police chiefs, as well as wide-ranging banking restrictions.But with the prospect of, Beijing, in common with other authoritarian regimes, is working on the assumption that they will no longer have to contend with the Trump administration’s uncompromising stance. Thus, the CCP has calculated that it can crush the last remnants of democratic representation in Hong Kong safe in the knowledge that it is unlikely to experience serious long-term retribution from Washington.is another rogue state that, to judge by its increasingly belligerent conduct over its nuclear programme, has reached the conclusion that it no longer has to concern itself with upsetting Washington. Apart from resuming work on enriching uranium – a clear breach of the 2015 nuclear deal – UN inspectors recently revealed that Tehran has begun to build a new network of underground bunkers at its Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Iran’s provocative actions prompted Mr Trump to ask US national security officials last week about . He was only dissuaded from launching a strike after warnings that it could escalate into a broader conflict.The aggressive policies being pursued by countries like China and Iran suggest that, with a change of administration due to take place in Washington, America’s enemies believe they will have more freedom to pursue their hostile agendas once Mr Trump is no longer in office.They will have been encouraged in this view, moreover, by the publication this week of former Democratic President Barack Obama’s memoir, A Promised Land, an account of his time in office. Mr Obama makes no secret of his unease at assuming the responsibilities of America’s commander-in-chief even though, when he took office, US forces were still heavily involved in the war against Islamist extremists. Mr Obama also admits that he felt “no joy” when authorising military operations, such as the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the man responsible for murdering more than 3,000 people in the September 11 attacks.Mr Obama’s diffident approach to tackling America’s enemies no doubt explains why, rather than confronting Beijing, he preferred to kowtow to China’s autocratic president, Xi Jinping. Similarly, when provided with evidence that Iran was attempting to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal, he helped to negotiate a deal that merely delayed for a decade the moment when Tehran would fulfil its ambitions, instead of ending them altogether.With Mr Biden, who served as Mr Obama’s vice president for eight years, soon likely to take office, it is easy to understand why the likes of China and Iran believe they have nothing to fear from the new American administration. For the moral of Mr Obama’s memoir is that, without strong and effective leadership in the White House, America’s enemies will simply grow and prosper.Related TopicsThe Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our.You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Find out more.Show commentsAdvertisementRelated TopicsWe rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.Thank you for your support.Need help?Visit ourpage.Close

It is surely no coincidence that, at a time when American leadership appears paralysed by disputes over the presidential election result, China’s communist rulers have chosen to launch yet another assault on Hong Kong’s democratic freedoms.Having effectively crushed the rights of pro-democracy protesters to stage demonstrations over Beijing’s draconian security laws, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has now passed a resolution allowing Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing rulers to dismiss any politician deemed to be a threat to national security, a move that has effectively extinguished the flame of...

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America’s enemies can scent Biden’s weakness

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