US President Donald Trump sees Chinese President Xi Jinping as a key figure in the Hong Kong crisis. „I have no doubt that President Xi, if he wants to solve the problem around Hong Kong quickly and in a humane way, can do that,“ Trump wrote on Twitter last night (local time). At the same time he suggested a meeting with his Chinese counterpart.
China had tightened its pace in the Hong Kong crisis a few hours earlier, raising concerns internationally. At the same time, the increasing presence of the Chinese military on the border with Hong Kong fueled concerns that the situation could escalate.
Further escalation fears
„Personal meeting?“ Trump suggested to the Chinese leader in his tweet. Trump had said on Tuesday that he had been informed by US intelligence that China’s military was gathering troops on the border with Hong Kong. Trump and Xi had recently met in June at the G20 summit in Osaka, where they talked about, among other things, the trade conflict between the two nations.
Hong Kong has been rocked for weeks by anti-government protests, it came more recently to clashes with security forces. Trump had been increasingly criticized domestically because he did not speak out clearly for the democratic rights of the people in Hong Kong.
