Center for the National Interest's video: Conflict over Hong Kong: Implications of Beijing s New National Security Law

Is Hong Kong a bellwether of US-China confrontation? Beijing’s promulgation of a new national security law for Hong Kong has escalated tensions between the United States and China, highlighting both the emerging competition between the two governing systems and US concerns about China’s growing international assertiveness in East Asia. Are tensions over Hong Kong contributing to perceptions of a new US-China cold war? Will Beijing escalate in response to US pressure? And what do China’s moves in Hong Kong portend for its broader regional and global challenge to the United States? The Center for the National Interest hosted an online discussion of these questions on July 22nd, 2020 with a panel of prominent experts: • Ambassador Kurt Tong, who served as United States Consul General and Chief of Mission in Hong Kong and Macau from 2016 to 2019 and is now a Partner at The Asia Group in Washington, DC. • Professor James Feinerman, the James M. Morita Professor of Asian Legal Studies and Co-Director of the Georgetown Law Asia Program at Georgetown University. • Professor Steven Tsang, the Director of the SOAS China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. • Dr. Paul Heer, a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for the National Interest and a former National Intelligence Officer for East Asia. Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest, moderated the discussion.