WASHINGTON (AP) – The world is watching how China deals with Hong Kong and its commitments to preserve freedoms there amid continuing tensions over prodemocracy protests, the United States’ top diplomat for East Asia said Wednesday.
Daniel Russel told a Senate panel the U.S. supports the right of citizens of the semi-autonomous Chinese city to a free election for its chief executive in 2017.
Despite recent signs of warming U.S.-China ties, the situation in Hong Kong, one of Asia’s leading financial centers, sits on a long list of irritants. Russel denied Chinese allegations that the U.S. has helped foment the more than two months of protests, which he said weren’t driven by outsiders but by Hong Kong people speaking out about their future.
“The United States has been urging and counseling China to exercise restraint and flexibility and to allow the voices of the people of Hong Kong to be heard,” he told a subcommittee overseeing Asia policy.
On Wednesday in Hong Kong, three protest leaders surrendered to police and called for an end to the increasingly violent demonstrations. Students are still occupying two sites after clashes with police earlier this week as they tried to surround city government headquarters.