Mike Pompeo Says Failing to Protect Hong Kong’s Freedom Was One of His ‘Greatest Failures’ in Office

Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department in Washington on Jan. 4, 2021. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said failing to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from dismantling Hong Kong’s freedom was one of his “greatest failures” during his tenure under the Trump administration.

Speaking at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Tokyo on July 22, Mr. Pompeo acknowledged his regrets about Hong Kong, saying that the West could have done better to preserve the city’s freedom.

“I’m often asked, ‘What was one of your greatest failures?’ That’s [Hong Kong]. I don’t know that we could have preserved it for the duration of the time the Chinese had committed, but we could have done better. We, collectively, the United States, Britain, all of the West, could have extended the time clock, and we didn’t. I'll take full responsibility for that,” he said.

The CCP’s control over Hong Kong has tightened since the mid-2010s as Beijing gradually imposed restrictions on the city after the 1997 handover from the UK, eroding the city’s promised autonomy. Protests broke out in response to these measures, with notable demonstrations in 2012 against school curriculum changes and during the 2014 “Umbrella Movement.”

The pro-democracy movement peaked in 2019 when an estimated 2 million people took to the streets to protest against a proposed extradition law allowing Hong Kong residents to be sent to mainland China for trial. Under pressure, then-Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had to withdraw the law. Due to the harsh suppression during protests, the pro-democracy movement gained greater support, leading to a majority win for pro-democracy candidates in the 2019 district council election.

The CCP viewed this win as a threat to its control over the city, prompting Beijing to impose a sweeping national security law in June 2020, bypassing Hong Kong’s Legislature. The law imposes a maximum of life imprisonment for vaguely defined crimes such as subversion, secession, and terrorism, which have been used to suppress opposition, disqualify pro-democracy candidates, limit media freedoms, and silence dissent, thereby fundamentally eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy.

During the summit, Mr. Pompeo noted that despite some difficulties at the time, he could have done more to protect some pro-democracy activists such as Jimmy Lai, an imprisoned pro-democracy advocate and media tycoon.

“There were a lot of hands that just didn’t do the things that in a timely way to protect folks like Jimmy Lai and some of the others in a way that I think was within our reach, not impossible to have done,” he said in response to part of the question from Benedict Rogers, CEO and co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, asking him about holding the CCP accountable for human rights abuses.

A report published in May by the Center for Strategic and International Studies indicated that Hong Kong’s freedoms have significantly eroded since 2020 in almost all areas under the CCP’s rule.

The report found that Hong Kong’s “high degree of autonomy,” intended to be preserved until 2047, has been undermined since China shifted toward authoritarianism under CCP leader Xi Jinping.

The United States enacted the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in 2019 to support Hong Kong protesters. The law requires the secretary of state to certify every year whether Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous to maintain its special economic privileges granted by the United States. These privileges include U.S. special treatment in trade, investment, and immigration, exempting Hong Kong from tariffs that apply to goods imported from China.

In 2020, Mr. Pompeo declared that Hong Kong was no longer autonomous from China due to the CCP’s tightening control over the city. Mr. Pompeo also said Hong Kong should be treated as a Chinese city because Beijing treats the former British territory like a Chinese city rather than an autonomous one.

In addition, Washington enacted the Hong Kong Autonomy Act in 2020, which imposes sanctions on Chinese officials and entities responsible for eroding the city’s freedoms.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion in May, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chair of the House Select Committee on the CCP, said Hong Kong’s freedom and the Chinese regime’s oppression of the city matter to the United States. He warned that Americans’ core values are in danger as Beijing broke its promise to Hong Kong in the 1997 handover from the UK.

“The core values of the American people are at stake. When the Chinese Communist Party breaks its word to respect the freedom of Hong Kong through ‘one country, two systems,’ it’s breaking its word to the entire world,” he said.