On Monday, Charlie Sennott spoke to Boston Public Radio about President Donald Trump’s signing of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which formally aligns the United States with pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.
"You might say it’s about time,” said Sennott, WGBH news analyst and GroundTruth Project CEO.
Protests in Hong Kong continue to escalate, with pro-democracy advocates continuing into their ninth consecutive month of demonstrations. In retaliation for Trump signing the Hong Kong Act, China has banned U.S. military from entering the region, and, in a mostly symbolic gesture, placed sanctions on several nongovernmental U.S.-based groups.
"I think the energy of those demonstrations are shocking the world, and it took [Trump] a long time … to get behind a pro-democracy movement,” Sennott said. "It’s worth pointing out [that] the president signed this legislation after the bill had already passed the House and the Senate by veto-proof majority."
Sennott continued, saying that “it’s hard not to be cynical that it had passed both House and Senate.”
"It’s true that he’s on his way … but there’s another thing at play here, which is … he is so consciously strutting his stuff on the global stage, keeping away from the crisis back home with impeachment.”
