Hong Kong Protesters Praise President Trump During Special Thanksgiving Rally
Pro-democracy protesters hold posters of Trump and wave American flags
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Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong praised Donald Trump during a special Thanksgiving Day rally as they held posters and banners of the president and waved American flags.
Activists in Hong Kong held up posters featuring President Trump depicted as “Rocky Balboa.”
Hong Kong citizens held the special rally to thank Trump for signing legislation to support their cause.
On Wednesday, President Trump tweeted the lighthearted image of himself portrayed as Sylvester Stallone's character from the Rocky movies.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2019
The image featured Trump's face superimposed on Stallone’s body, circa 1976, in the role of fictional boxing legend Rocky Balboa and, unsurprisingly, liberals imploded over the move.
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According to Breitbart, left-wing Hollywood personalities were outraged, and mainstream media fact-checkers tittered in disapproval, but most people took the tweet as a joke.
Except in Hong Kong.
There, protesters appear to have taken the image seriously, as a depiction of American resolve against China.
On Wednesday, President Trump signed two relevant bills into law.
One, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, “mandates sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who carry out human rights abuses and requires an annual review of the favorable trade status that Washington grants Hong Kong,” the Associated Press reported.
The other bill prohibits the export to Hong Kong of non-lethal arms used by police to suppress protests.
It was not clear at first whether the president would sign the bills, though they had overwhelming support in Congress.
Trump is in the midst of delicate trade talks with China, and while he has sometimes used the Hong Kong issue to gain leverage, he has also appealed to China by supporting talks instead of confrontation.
In a statement Wednesday, he said: “I signed these bills out of respect for President Xi, China, and the people of Hong Kong.”
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Once the bills were signed, protesters were jubilant.
At the Thanksgiving rally, they sang The Star-Spangled Banner:
BEAUTIFUL: Hong Kong protestors sing American National Anthem as a gesture of thanks for @realDonaldTrump signing bills into law yesterday that back the protestors pic.twitter.com/bfkRAVzK4Q
— Roz al Ghul ☀️ (@PolitiKurd) November 28, 2019
China, which has accused the U.S. of fomenting Hong Kong unrest, denounced the new legislation.
