US Senators shame themselves passing legislation on Hong Kong

The US Senate passed the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 on Tuesday. The legislation claims to be aimed at "protecting human rights in Hong Kong amid China's crackdown on a pro-democracy protest movement that has gripped the vital financial center for months".

Such legislation, if it is really in support of human rights and democracy in Hong Kong, would show concern for how the city has been almost paralyzed by the actions of the rioters and how the rioters have intimidated innocent people and damaged the social order.

If the US senators had any real understanding of human rights they would have empathy for innocent Hong Kong residents whose normal lives have been seriously disrupted, they would understand that what the Hong Kong police has done is no different from what its Western counterparts would do in such circumstances. Instead, the US senators ignore the intimidation of ordinary residents and describe the police actions as a "crackdown", a word which they have never used to describe similar actions by the police in the United States.