President Barack Obama on Monday declined to speak out directly on behalf of the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, stating that while U.S. officials are concerned about human rights, they must also maintain business ties with China.
Obama said in Beijing that "the situation between China and Hong Kong is historically complicated and is in the process of transition," Politico reported. While the United States will continue to raise concerns about freedom of speech and assembly, he added that "we don’t expect China to follow an American model in every instance."
"We’re not going to stop speaking out on behalf of the things that we care about, recognizing that we also have significant interest in business to do with China, and recognizing that China is not at the same place in terms of their development, both politically and economically, as we are today," the president added.
The pro-democracy demonstrations, which began in September and drew tens of thousands of people, have since dwindled in size to a few hundreds students and others. But polls continue to show widespread support in Hong Kong for allowing citizens there to elect their own leaders without interference from Beijing.
Student protest leaders have said they might remain encamped on the streets until next June, when Hong Kong’s legislature will vote on the process for electing the city’s next chief executive in 2017. China sparked the demonstrations in August when it proposed that candidates for the spot would still have to be approved by a mostly pro-Beijing nominating committee.