"So Trump should consider a second policy as well: Offer Hong Kong’s citizens who do not wish to live in a totalitarian state an opportunity to become Americans. This is on a list of options for Trump, but it will be a tough sell for a man who won the presidency with a promise to build a wall to keep out immigrants.
If Trump can leave aside his nativism — again, there is little evidence that he can — he just might see that an open door for Hong Kong’s people has several benefits.
One, it would be a way to punish the Chinese Communist Party, creating the conditions for a brain drain. All of the financial and creative genius that has prospered in Hong Kong’s open society will now have an incentive to leave. China’s leaders may think that they can get away with their assault on Hong Kong during the coronavirus pandemic, but the flight of their most talented citizens would impoverish the regime in the long run.
An open door to Hong Kongers would also be a boon for the U.S. Just because Trump fails to appreciate or acknowledge the great contributions immigrant entrepreneurs have made to the U.S. economy, does not mean those contributions don’t exist. Hong Kong is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, and the U.S. has a chance to benefit from the human capital that created that wealth.
Finally, an open door could help repair America’s image as a refuge from despotism. In the Trump years, it’s easy to forget that many oppressed and subjugated people around the world still look to the U.S. with hope. They see the founding ideals of America’s revolution as a promise to emulate. To them, those ideals (to borrow a phrase) make America great. The crisis in Hong Kong is an opportunity for Trump to renew that promise."
If Trump can leave aside his nativism — again, there is little evidence that he can — he just might see that an open door for Hong Kong’s people has several benefits.
One, it would be a way to punish the Chinese Communist Party, creating the conditions for a brain drain. All of the financial and creative genius that has prospered in Hong Kong’s open society will now have an incentive to leave. China’s leaders may think that they can get away with their assault on Hong Kong during the coronavirus pandemic, but the flight of their most talented citizens would impoverish the regime in the long run.
An open door to Hong Kongers would also be a boon for the U.S. Just because Trump fails to appreciate or acknowledge the great contributions immigrant entrepreneurs have made to the U.S. economy, does not mean those contributions don’t exist. Hong Kong is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, and the U.S. has a chance to benefit from the human capital that created that wealth.
Finally, an open door could help repair America’s image as a refuge from despotism. In the Trump years, it’s easy to forget that many oppressed and subjugated people around the world still look to the U.S. with hope. They see the founding ideals of America’s revolution as a promise to emulate. To them, those ideals (to borrow a phrase) make America great. The crisis in Hong Kong is an opportunity for Trump to renew that promise."